Jennifer Jaiswal, Instructional Designer & Sr Instructional Technologist 

Am I the only one who has heard the collective groan when the class group work project is announced? Am I the only one who has had a terrible group work project, where I’ve been stuck writing the report or presentation on my own? Most students and faculty have had poor group work experiences. What are the reasons for having them in our courses?

As we prepare our students for the workforce, the National Association of Colleges and Employers have teamwork/collaboration as one of the top career competencies that employers are looking for college graduates to have. Working as a team also allows students to develop their competencies in: professionalism/work ethic, oral/written communications, leadership and more. These career competencies can all be developed through group work projects (NACE, 2019).

The group work assignments that we complete in our classes serve as a testing ground for how we should participate in groups in our professional lives after graduation. Assigning a group project with no guidelines or restrictions is not realistic and sets up groups for challenges. But what makes a good group project? 

Guidelines:

Don’t assign a group project without a team plan. Planning ahead can help to make sure that everyone in the group has an idea of what the group will be completing and what their own individual responsibilities are. Using a Group Contract can help students think through the key features of a functioning team and what they each will be responsible for in the project. 

Contracts should include:

• Names and contact information: This helps to set up accountability and the ability to get in contact with each other. 
• Team roles and responsibilities: Each team member should take responsibility for part of the project and list its responsibilities in the contract. Team members may take on multiple roles as part of their project, but listing out what their responsibilities are helps to balance the workload upfront and create the timeline. Some examples are: 
  • Leader – sets the agenda, sends reminders, and keeps team members accountable.
  • Researcher – gathers raw material for the group and cites sources; can be more than one in a team
  • Writer/Producer – connects the research together to tell the story
  • Editor – reviews the final draft for errors, references, and makes sure that it is ready to be sent to instructor or ready for presentation 
  • More roles and their descriptions can be found on the CSU: San Marcos page

• Best Dates and Times to Meet:

• • Asking this at the beginning helps to avoid the conflict later. 
  • This helps to set up accountability and a schedule for touching base over the course of the project. 
  • You can also arrange your groups based on what times they are most available to help the group have a natural meeting time.

• Timeline:

• • What are the tasks that need to be completed by each member of the group?
  • What is a reasonable time by which that task should be completed?
  • The Writer/Producer should work with the Researchers to set a deadline that gives them time to produce the project
  • The Editor should set the final timeline to make sure they have enough time to review and complete the project before the deadline.

• Signatures:

• • All members should sign to show they agree with the written plan and turn a copy into the faculty member.

Getting Started:

If you are looking for a sample to get started see our Group Contract Template. This has suggestions for information that can go into your contract. You can make a copy and edit it to best meet your needs.

The description of your assignment should be clear and understandable with the knowledge that your students will have of the course and its content. It should be broken down into manageable tasks that students will be able to complete in the time allotted. Offering examples of previous projects that did well can also help students make sure they are not planning the scope of the project to be too big.

Creating a model where the group project can be evaluated on an individual basis can also help the group to function better. This shows that you are interested in all members completing tasks and working on the project together, and can help to prevent group members from becoming estranged, not participating or letting the other members carry all the weight of the project. For example, you can have a joint presentation but also have a reflection paper where students cover what they learned in the process of the project that can be evaluated for an individual grade. For more information and methods on assessing groups please see this article by the Eberly Center from Carnegie Mellon. 

Reflection 

Last but not least, ask your students to reflect on their process, the project, their participation, and other member’s participation. This gives the students the opportunity to alert you to any challenges in the group and if members were not participating equally. You can have reflections at multiple points throughout the project, not just at the end. Some sample questions you can ask are:

• How is the team working as a whole? Are there challenges? What are they? How are they being resolved?
• What have you been working on since the beginning of the project?
• How have your peers been participating in the project?
• What do you think of your own contributions to the project?

Thinking out the process of the group project and what the expectations are can help to make a better experience as students learn how to design and plan a project while learning how to manage and work with a team. For help with your group project please contact CELT.

Reference

NACE Staff. (2019, March 29). The four career competencies employers value most. National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/the-four-career-competencies-employers-value-most/