Group Collaborations

As many of us near the end of yet another term, I would like to share recent research on Ways to Improve Group Work Online by Davidson and Katopodis (2020). In their paper, they share key recommendations for course collaborations:

1. Structure group projects around real-world problems. Lunsford et al. (2013) found, students’ writing improves when they write to communicate beyond the classroom.

2. Create an equitable distribution of labor and assure students that you, the instructor, are responsible for this aspect of the collaboration.

3. Create “pods” large enough to guard against ghosting. They suggest a minimum of three people per group.

4. Get rid of competition for grades within the group. We recommend contract grading.

5. Assign pre-work. Increase student engagement by asking students to create their own job descriptions. (e.g., project management, graphic designer, researcher, lead writer, copy editor, proofreader, web manager, community networker).

6. Provide a clearly defined project timeline and checkpoints. They suggest a number of intermediate deadlines, with clear deliverables for each group member at each milestone. Encourage students to celebrate their successes and to help one another identify what needs to be done next.

7. Be forgiving and adaptable. Both you and your students may need to revise the scope, the timeline and the responsibilities as the project unfolds. Build that flexibility in from the very beginning.

8. Put that achievement on a résumé!

Carnegie Mellon Center for Teaching Excellence also has created a nice summary of Best Practices for Designing Group Projects, which include

• Creating interdependence;

• Devoting time specifically to teamwork skills; and

• Building in individual accountability.

References

Lunsford, A. (2013). College Writing, Identification, and the Production of Intellectual Property: Voices from the Stanford Study of Writing Fishman, Jenn; Liew, Warren M. College English, 75(5), 470-492.