♫12 Days of Professional Development Opportunities♫
For most of us, the fall 2020 semester required a major shift in how we do our job as faculty members. We had to come
Casey Dexter, PhD
December 16, 2020
HIGHER ED TEACHING STRATEGIES FROM MAGNA PUBLICATIONS
group work strategies
Part Three of Practical Mid-Career Teaching Reflections: Assignments
I would like to begin with one of the age-old dilemmas facing instructors. We all probably concur that teamwork is a key skill needed in
Justin Robertson, PhD
November 30, 2020
Part One of Practical Mid-Career Teaching Reflections: Early Week Classroom Activities
With PhD in hand, I joined the academy without any real teaching training. As I sought to establish my teaching routine and define my teaching
Justin Robertson, PhD
November 16, 2020
Stop Giving Them Answers: Make Them Think!
Higher education has recently changed in faster and more dynamic ways than anticipated. COVID-19 is an immediate factor, but the access to information is more
David Adams, PhD, and Enoch Hale, PhD
August 26, 2020
Rights and Responsibilities for Group Members
I recently revisited something I’ve always considered a great resource. It originally appeared in a 1992 issue of the Teaching Professor and was published then
Maryellen Weimer, PhD
June 28, 2019
Designing Effective Team Projects in Online Courses
Participating in team projects offers students the chance to develop interpersonal communication skills (Figueira & Leal, 2013), build relationships with classmates, and increase the level
Stephanie Smith Budhai, PhD
May 24, 2019
Students Riding on Coattails during Group Work? Five Simple Ideas to Try
The idea for sharing this post came from a session I recently conducted at the annual teaching conference organized by my university. A pedagogical conundrum was raised by a colleague whose enthusiasm and question stayed with me and inspired me to write this post. The question posed by this colleague is relevant to all instructors who have ever used group work to assess their students: How should one deal with the issues that arise when members of a group are not picking up their share of the responsibilities during a group work project?
Li-Shih Huang, PhD
September 20, 2018
Why Some Students Struggle with Group Work
Recently, in my first-year seminar class, I had an opportunity to re-think my use of group projects. I had set up the task perfectly, or so I thought. I’d anticipated all the typical group project challenges, designed solutions to those challenges, and convinced myself that the final group assignment would be smooth sailing. Except it wasn’t.
Flower Darby
March 29, 2018
My Students Don’t Like Group Work
Students don’t always like working in groups. Ann Taylor, an associate professor of chemistry at Wabash College, had a class that was particularly vocal in their opposition. She asked for their top 10 reasons why students don’t want to work in groups and they offered this list (which I’ve edited slightly).
Maryellen Weimer, PhD
July 12, 2017
Peer Assessment that Improves Performance in Groups
Peer assessment in groups has been shown to effectively address a number of group process issues, but only if the peer assessment has a formative component. Many studies have shown that if peer assessment is used at the end of a group project, group members will punish their dysfunctional members—those who didn’t do work, didn’t turn work in on time, didn’t come to meetings, and didn’t do quality work—but they won’t confront those group members when they commit those dysfunctional behaviors. After-the-fact peer assessment gives the teacher input on who did and didn’t contribute in the group, but it doesn’t change what happened in that group or help students learn how to confront group member problems when they emerge.
Maryellen Weimer, PhD
October 29, 2015