Thread: Group Projects

Hey, WAG, good to see you on the board once more. I've missed you. Or have I overlooked you? Either or....

I don't do group work as much as I used to. The problem you've cited is one reason why. It is THE reason why I insist my students do their own, individual, science prpjects for our science fair.

When I do group work, I do the following:

** I permit students to chose their own groups. Yes, I know this opens up to the potential that students will do more socializing than work, but it also exerts peer pressure, where one does not dare let the group down lest there be reprecussions later on.

** I insist that each member of the group take responsibility (in writing) for a certain aspect of the project work, ie graphics, writing the narrative, researching information.... Each of those aspects is then graded and if one particular thing is not done well, the one in charge of the aspect is penalized, not the whole group.

** I sometimes have students do a sort of "after action" report (my military background shows here) in which they critique the job they as a group did, mention anything that they did well or couild do better and do an self-evaluation as well as an evaluation of each group member. All of this is factored into the final grade.

I have mine put all their names on it, and I usually let them fill out a form that they can accuse someone of not working on it with. Of course, since I watch them work on it, I can see if they are being accurate or not. Usually, they are. So if someone didn't contribute much, they don't get much. If someone in the group pretty much did the project themselves, they get more than the ones who sat back and did less. I find that situation just.....

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I guess it depends what you want from the group work--are you marking for how a group works together? or are you marking for product? What I'm looking for when I have children work in groups is whether or not they can work in a group. I'm not particularly interested in the product (but then I teach K) but I AM interested in whether or not they can work in a group. I think the whole point of group projects is to for the Group to make sure the group is working. If children complain to me that K isn't participating, I tell them it's their job to make sure that everybody participates--don't complain to me. If they complain that J is taking over and not listening to the rest, I tell them it's their job to make sure everybody participates--don't complain to me.

Originally Posted by JohnBoy

...snip... If someone in the group pretty much did the project themselves, they get more than the ones who sat back and did less. I find that situation just.....

But what if that over-achiever didn't let the others in the group to participate because the over-achiever is a perfectionist that doesn't accept work or ideas from others in the group? What if the less able did the best job he/she could but it wasn't accepted by perfectionist over achiever because it was less than the impossibly perfect that the perfectionist expected? (I'm thinking of my own child whose work is less than stellar--not because he's lazy but because he's not able. He's spent years not doing group work because it's not as beautiful as the rest.)

I like the idea of a written declaration of what each child in the group is responsible for. I also think that ALL group work should be done in the classroom under the supervision of the teacher who can then see who is doing what and who is wandering--either literally or figuratively. But then, I teach K and have NO idea of what it's like to teach anything above grade 4. If kids are good at group work, thank the primary teachers who taught them how to work in groups but if they're bad at group work, it's not my fault :wink: !

But what if that over-achiever didn't let the others in the group to participate because the over-achiever is a perfectionist that doesn't accept work or ideas from others in the group? What if the less able did the best job he/she could but it wasn't accepted by perfectionist over achiever because it was less than the impossibly perfect that the perfectionist expected?

I also watch and see if the group isn't getting along- it usually shows up in the end product, which will be somewhat disjointed. Then they learn that the ones who did cooperate got a better grade than they did.....

I personally don't like cooperative learning, as I hate anything Marxist, but I use it because it pleases my administrators and does have certain limited applications that work for it. Some see it as the holy grail of teaching..... I'm among the unreconstructed and unconverted, although I have to generally keep that quiet.

I also think that ALL group work should be done in the classroom under the supervision of the teacher who can then see who is doing what and who is wandering--either literally or figuratively.

I quite agree- and when I assign such things I spend a good bit of time roaming about from group to group.

I do a lot of group projects and finally have it down to a science or at least one that works for me and leaves little room for accusations.

When I give a group assignment, the final project counts as only one-fourth the grade.

Group role - 25%
Research - 25%
Individual assessment on the project - 25%
Final project - 25%

Based on the first three criteria, it would be very easy to prove if someone was not carrying their weight. The last five minutes if the period is writing a daily evaluation stating:

* what was accomplished
* what their own contribution was
* any problems

I collect them and glance through them and hang on to them. When controversy arises I can sit down with them and go through the evals with them. Often a complaint is based soley on the hormone surge of the day as past evals showed no problems.

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Thanks, Bill. I'm flattered I was missed. I read most every day, but this has been a very stressful start to my year. My husband had surgery (successful) but we had some pretty tense weeks until we were sure his life wasn't threatened, my oldest son was in the midst of getting full custody of his son due to drug problems on the mothers part (now has temporary custody until after the first of the year). One-fifth of my class has diagnosed learning problems (one is e.i.) and an additional child is just plain mean. I should be finishing up grading so I can do my report cards and I am procrastinating by posting. :lol:

I also have each student fill out an evaluation. They have an opportunity to tell me the work they did, what the other team members did, and if they feel that everyone worked equally.

In cases when one student says another student did not pull an equal share of the weight, I address that student and usually get an honest response. It works for me.

I wrote a lengthy response last night about my last year experience, but I erased it as it sounded like detailed gossip on individual students.
Basically, students chose their own groups for a three-month long project, and then some of them were stuck with very able but very lazy classmates who didn't care a bit (they were very enthusiastic for first 2-3 weeks and then just gave up). Classroom dynamics changed in the meantime and kids made different friendships, but by that time the groups were set for a long time and couldn't change. Two of my sped students had to do the whole thing themselves and got only a D+ on their work, while their three groupmates kept saying that they do not have any project to do (in spite of my constant reminders).

I also had a lot of deadline problems and I do not think the whole group project thing is worthy of all that stress. So now I have decided that group work is only for some things done in class for review (such as filling a table/chart with already covered content) and they get the class participation grade. If there are any longer projects in future, they will be strictly individual.

BTW how do you people grade the group work where one of four students did nothing or next to nothing, but the final result (including drafts) is for example an A- or B+ ?

Originally Posted by Zheljko

BTW how do you people grade the group work where one of four students did nothing or next to nothing, but the final result (including drafts) is for example an A- or B+ ?

Check my post above. With the final results of the group project being only one-fourth of the grade, that person would not have a passing grade. In fact, in the rare instances when I have observed a student contributing nothing, I have pulled him/her and assigned an individual assignment to cover the same objectives. Personal observation and the daily evals help me catch this sooner rather than later.