Adam Bruce

I try to build commitment and buy in by asking them what would they do if they were in my spot...If they were the boss and someone was not a pulling their weight or adding something positive to the collective effort. I remind them we are all going to have co-workers, subordinates, and supervisors and we need to interact with others in order to be a valued employee, and that ultimately that will be more about human relations than actual aptitude.

Ethel Aneke

Having been a student many times, I know all the problems with group presentation pose. To combat these, I usually make sure that each group has a leader and the leadership is rotated each week for the duration of the course. The leader has the sole responsibility of sharing the topic and I will annouce the importance of getting the parts on time for the leader to put it together, knowing that next time, it will be another person's turn.

I mandate exchange of phone # and e-mails, and in class, will purposely throw out 5mins. pop questions that groups will tackle together, thus encouraging discussion and trust amongst the group members.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Ethel,
This is a great way to bring balance and full participation to groups. Also, you are developing in the students the ability to work with different individuals which is critical once they are out in the work place. This information is going to be valuable to other instructors. Thanks for sharing it.
Gary

Patricia Noonan

In an accelerated learning environment I find it difficult to create the type of interdependency that would foster students holding each other accountable for participation.

So I generally structure the group project so that each person can contribute, the group can contribute to learning but no one student carries the burden of having to cajole their peers into participation.

I structure the DB for participation and grade students individually and as a measure of their contributing to collaborative learning.

Gary Underwood

Patricia,

Having been in your class in the past I have to say that your approach works about the best I have seen in this environment, and now that I am an instructor as well I have adopted that model for the group projects in my classes. By breaking the overall grade down into individual as well as group portions, and making the individual section hold the most grade point weight it seems to get more students to actually get involved. I also make 30% of their individual portion grade dependent upon the level of their participation in the group discussions and interactions. Although this does not always work, it is the best plan that I have seen for the accelerated platform to date.

Gary

Patricia Noonan

Gary,
Thanks for the comment. I am always trying to find ways to get the students involved in the group. I appreciate the support.
Patricia

Suzanne Malek CHEP

Roger:

I provide students an opportunity to choose their roles within a group environment by informing all students that they need to read some information about group processes and then email me to indicate their intent to contribute. Additionally, IF a student indicates that he/she is eager to be a team leader, I permit them to choose their team members. This additional incentive motivates many students. Of course, some students are chosen to be team members on more than one team so I create a sense of urgency by letting them know that the first to volunteer will have first choice for the best team members. Often I will have a student sho will volunteer to be a team leader but who has no previous relationship with the other students. Then they ask me to choose their team members. I only choose from those who have notified me with a note of intent to contribute. This process ensures that students are grouped with others who are interested in having successful team experiences. Where I have students who have not contacted me and may need additional motivation to contribute and collaborate, I encourage co-team leadership. This extra step creates a partnership and support system from the beginning for those who may need this additional process and resource.

Suzanne

Nancy Unnasch

Something that I have tried in my class for group projects was to have continual building on the one project. They were to design their own clinic, discussing a lot of the issues that would arise from having a business and all the planning that goes into it. In doing this, they all had a lot to put into the projects as the quarter has evolved. I also give them the chance to work for small periods together in class so that I may assess if there are problem areas, and then follow with a paper on there individual reflections of the project-encouraging both pros and cons.

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Hi Nancy,
Good strategy. I like the way you help to build a solid foundation and create additional knowledge bases for your students. This really helps them to see the application and relevancy of the knowledge they are acquiring.
Gary