Group work online

SOME THOUGHTS ON GROUP WORK

There are two reasons to create groups in online classes. One is that the class is simply so big (and I define that as over 20) that students could never keep up with all the postings. In that case you are using the Group function similar to the Discussion Board. This type of group work is easier to grade and takes a strain off students in a large class, but it really doesn’t help you as a teacher lighten your load. As in this class, when I do this I make all groups visible. I think some students do read the work in other groups.

The other, perhaps more popular use of groups, is to require students to work together to produce ONE final product. While this is the common use of groups, there are problems because people log in at different times. Some students want to finish early (I was this type of student) and some students wait until the last minute. There is also the “free rider” problem, where one student “coasts” on the work of others. I allow students in a group project to “fire” a non-performer. So far that threat has been enough to insure participation.

Some teachers assign roles in a progressive project. This is a good strategy with undergrad groups or groups who have just met. Students are required to build on previous entries. If you as a teacher know enough to sense who posts early this is a strategy to consider. Student A is assigned the first post, student b must add to it, then student C, etc. At the end all students make a final summative. When this works, it works great, but unfortunately life sometimes intervenes. This progressive type of project is also easy to grade.

In most group projects, however, students are required to all work together from the beginning and share their experiences but then come up with a final project that demonstrates that they have mastered the subject. This mirrors what you often have to do in a business situation. You need to arrive at a solution to a problem while working in a group. Note what happened here: There is no way that we could share our experiences, come to a conclusion and do a presentation in a short time. My finding is that this type of group project always takes longer than one week. I usually allot three weeks minimum. This type of project is hard to grade.

So what do I do? I try to be very specific in my directions, telling the group exactly what their final project needs to look like. I allot three weeks. I give break points within the three weeks: by the end of the first week you should have decided on the topic. by the end of the second week you have all given input into the topic… by the end of the third week you will all have worked together to produce the final product. I make myself part of every group so I can answer questions and I can more fairly grade. Some online teachers ask students in a group to grade each other, but I do not do that. I give the students a rubric and try to follow.

Designing, monitoring and grading group work is hard online. (Actually I think it is hard in a face-to-face class to).