Group Work

Last updated by neal.legler 4 years ago

Resources on Group Work

Group work falls into two classifications: small group work or projects and team activities. The difference between the two is that small group work or projects only last for a short amount of time and may be for accomplishing a single task and team activities are multiple tasks completed by the same group. Below are resources and ideas for both

Best practices for group work:

Start with an authentic task/objective

Be explicit about expectations

Keep groups small, from 3-4 people per group

Smith, R. O., & Dirkx, J. M. (2007). Using consensus groups in online learning. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education , 25–35. (http://dist.lib.usu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24601696&site=eds-live )

Provide clear instructions

Roberts, T. S., & McInnerney, J. M. (2007). Seven problems of online group learning (and their solutions). Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 10 , 257–268. (http://dist.lib.usu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.jeductechsoci.10.4.257&site=eds-live )

Provide support, as needed

Koh, M. H., Barbour, M., & Hill, J. R. (2010). Strategies for instructors on how to improve online group work. Journal of Educational Computing Research , 43 (2), 183-205. (http://dist.lib.usu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eue&AN=508133060&site=ehost-live )

Give guidelines for participation (may include having student assume “roles” in the group to be clear about who does what)

Grade individually and on group product

Chang, B., & Kang, H. (2016). Challenges facing group work online. Distance Education , 37 (1), 73-88. (http://dx.doi.org.dist.lib.usu.edu/10.1080/01587919.2016.1154781 )

See Roberts & McInnerney (2007) from above

Team Activities

CATME Network Tools (This is a suite of team building tools that were created by some researchers at Purdue University.)

https://www.catme.org/login/index

Team-Maker

Peer Evaluation

Peer Evaluation Rater Calibration

Teamwork Training

Also helpful is an article by Stephanie Smith Budhai that was published in Faculty Focus. (https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/designing-effective-team-projects-in-online-courses/ ) She suggests keeping the groups small for better ease in coordinating schedules and with an odd number of students to have a tie breaker (in case one is needed), setting expectations for contributions, monitoring the online group space, using peer feedback, and assigning a group and individual grade. (Many of these things are cross-over with the information provided at CATME.)