Group Projects
Why group projects?
Groups and teams are continuing to become the norm in the workplace.
It is hoped that group skills learned in the classroom will transfer into the workplace.
Yet, from our colorful introduction, we see that group work in the classroom can have negative outcomes; you may have experienced this first hand
Students who feel they have learned from an educational experience are more likely to be satisfied with their education and therefore less likely to drop out. (Meeuwisse, Severiens, & Born, 2010, Mu & Gnyawali, 2003)
Therefore, due to the importance of group work in the workplace and the complexities involved, we have gathered the following literature and resources to help you make group work a success in your classroom.
Download multiple handouts/templates/resources for making group work a success in your classroom.
Selection
How should we form the groups?
Should students self-select into groups? OR Should you put them in groups?
Chapman, Meuter, Toy, and Wright (2009) also found that while instructors typically believe most students want to be able to pick their own groups, actually less than half of students prefer to self-select their groups and most would rather be placed into a group.
Placing students into groups is important for a number of reasons:
Groups should be diverse (Oakley, Felder, Brent, & Elhajj, 2004; Meeuwisse, Severiens, & Born, 2010; Mu & Gnyawali, 2003)
Group members should have similar schedules.
Typically no more than 3 - 5 to a group (optimal but not set in stone)
Group members should have complementary skills
HOW SHOULD I PLACE STUDENTS INTO GROUPS?
Great question, here are some resources that compare different methods for forming student groups as well as propose a "best practice."
(Blowers, 2003) Full Article
(Kinchin, & Hay, 2005) Full Article
Setting Standards
Group members should have realistic and concrete expectations of the group (Huff, Cooper, & Jones, 2002)
Group expectations should be in writing
Group members should sign a group contract
Evaluation
Keys to successful evaluations (Huff, Cooper, & Jones, 2002):
Provide materials for student evaluations
Monitor groups for signs of conflict
Remind students to be continually evaluating
Provide ample time for student evaluations in class
Have students evaluate the group
Have students evaluate their own performance
Include qualitative and quantitative questioning
Always have an "any other comments" section
HOW SHOULD EVALUATION BE CONDUCTED?
Many different methods exist to facilitate student evaluations
De Abreu Moreira & Da Silva (2003) offered an interesting technique wherein:
Student group submits project to rest of class (electronically is preferred)
Another group reviews and critiques the project and posts review
Original group receives review, makes edits, and defends project
This process supports student learning by teaching:
Ability to present work to peers
Social skills for making criticisms to peers (respectful, polite, & constructive)
Social skill for accepting criticism of own work (positively & constructively)
These lead to future group & career success (Mu & Gnyawali, 2003)
Students, on average, supported this electronic peer review process
See FULL ARTICLE for specific details
Tips and Tricks for Making Groups a Success
Promote social interaction outside of class
BUT, commit time within class for the project (Mu & Gnyawali, 2003)
Trust is a big predictor of group success (Huff, Cooper, & Jones, 2002).
Effort, timeliness, justice, equality, and communication skills are core trust components
Students should not dismiss others from the conversation because of distrust perceptions.
Leads to groupthink and counterproductive actions.
Student emotions can signal group problems.
Need to educate students on effective group functioning.
Establish lines of communication among members and between the group and professor.
Establish rapport with each group individually.
Colorful Student Comments about Group Projects
"When I die, I want the people I've done group projects with to lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time - Anonymous Twitter Post"
A brief and colorful sstudent-generated webpage.
Collaborative Work and Group Project Design
MWM On-Demand:
To access the video below, you will need to log into your mentorcommons account BEFORE CLICKING THE LINK BELOW.
Don't have a mentorcommons account? Visit this page for instructions to get access.
How Do I Assign Students to Groups?
Relevant Citations:
- Blowers, P. (2003). Using student skill self-assessments to get balanced groups for group projects. College Teaching, 51(3), 106-110.
- Catme.org (2015). Homepage. www.catme.org.
- Chapman, K. J., Meuter, M. L., Toy, D., & Wright, L. K. (2009). Are student groups dysfunctional? Perspectives from both sides of the classroom. Journal of Marketing Education.
- de Abreu Moreira, D., & Da Silva, E. Q. (2003). A method to increase student interaction using student groups and peer review over the internet. Education and Information technologies, 8(1), 47-54.
- Huff, L. C., Cooper, J., & Jones, W. (2002). The development and consequences of trust in student project groups. Journal of Marketing Education, 24(1), 24-34.
- Kinchin, I., & Hay, D. (2005). Using concept maps to optimize the composition of collaborative student groups: a pilot study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 51(2), 182-187.
- Lerner, L. D. (1995). Making student groups work. Journal of Management Education, 19(1), 123-125.
- Meeuwisse, M., Severiens, S. E., & Born, M. P. (2010). Learning environment, interaction, sense of belonging and study success in ethnically diverse student groups. Research in Higher Education, 51(6), 528-545.
- Mu, S., & Gnyawali, D. R. (2003). Developing synergistic knowledge in student groups. Journal of Higher Education, 689-711.
- Oakley, B., Felder, R. M., Brent, R., & Elhajj, I. (2004). Turning student groups into effective teams. Journal of student centered learning, 2(1), 9-3
