Before the Team Project Cultivate a Community of Collaborators Deb LaBelle.
-
Upload
bennett-pearson -
Category
Documents
-
view
218 -
download
0
Transcript of Before the Team Project Cultivate a Community of Collaborators Deb LaBelle.
Team Projects Environments
Face-to-Face, in class only
Online, never meet Face-to-Face
Hybrid, meet in class and use online tools
This talk is about the team projects in the Hybrid environment, and my attempt to prepare new* students to be good collaborators on team projects in this environment
My class size is 24 max
The Team Project
Is Important becauseResearch shows students learn more, and retain more
Students are more satisfied
Should be constructed to meet the educational needs of the student and the course requirements
Background
Key to forming functional learning groups is social interaction
Non-task conversations provide opportunities for building socio-emotional connections
“Working collaboratively is a skill and a perspective.” Guzdial (1997)
Background - continued
Kreijns (2003) – Two Pitfalls in CSCL environments:
Social interaction is taken for granted
Social interactions are restricted
Team Building Exercises
Plethora of Team building exercises have been designed to help students prepare to work together
Drawbacks of TBEsMost require F-To-F interaction
Take class time
Are often separate from the project itself
Take place at the beginning of the semester when everyone is excited to be here
My Observations
Students new to the concept of teamwork are not “prepared” to “collaborate” on a team projectThey do not have a good working knowledge of the available collaborative toolsThey do not have socio-emotional connections with fellow classmatesMost are comfortable communicating in an online environment
More observations/assumptionsStudents are working for a grade, not pay or promotionStudents who want the grade will work to achieve itMany students have a grade in mind and it’s not always an AStudents do not typically understand the benefits of team work until it’s over
Successful collaborators
Enjoy working with team members
Are able to reflect on their teamwork
Are aware of progress made by self and others
Are committed to self, others and the project
Build “lasting” relationships with fellow students
Skills of successful collaborators
Good Relationship skillsUnderstand what it takes to be a good team member
Able to share information, and ask questions
Good Communication skillsOnline – practice good communication protocol in chat, message board, and email
May vary with age and experience*
Face-to-face – speak to each other by nameGood Technology skills(Working together as a class helps “new” students build these skills)
Strategies that worked for me
Couple the task and off-task activitiesWork with the teams to build a relationship - be a good team memberDesign projects that get their focus off “the grade”Design the project so that all students have equal responsibilitiesIntegrate the use of the Collaboration tool whenever possible
Structure the assignments to foster social interactions and build history
Assign projects that focus on process, not outcomes – end product is fuzzyAssign projects that require members to rely on each other for technological information (show and tell) – challenge the studentsAssign structure not specifics – students will ask each other “what does she want?”
Encourage Social Interactions
Create a discussion board topic just for social interactions
Create a chat room for Off-task discussions
Interject questions about hobbies and interests outside of class that may relate to the project assignment
Why this topic? How can it be used IRL?
Encourage sharing of technical and problem domain knowledge
Design discussion questions to include everyone’s skill level
Get involved in the discussion, ask questions, ask for feedback
Tell students you are tracking them
Share tracking stats with students
Show them how you use the tools
Provide time for reflection
In class reflection sessionsInter-group discussions
Class briefings
Highlight contributions of individual team members
Recognize groups that are performing well, and ask groups to talk about their teamwork
Random Groups –
students were asked to form groups,
they usually asked the person sitting next to them to be their partners.
Each group produced one project.
I created discussion boards on which students could contribute and share ideas.
Random Groups
Group 1
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Group Assignment
Group 2
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Group Assignment
Interest Groups –
students devised an idea for a project individually,
students with similar project ideas formed a group and worked together to produce one project.
I generated small group discussion boards on the CSCL tool.
Interest Groups
Group Assignment
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Group 1
Group Assignment
Student 1
Student 2
Student 3
Group 2
Loose Groups –
students devised an idea for a project individually, students with similar project ideas formed a group to discuss issues involved in developing their individual project. I mandated the use of discussion boards for students to share ideas. I took suggestions from students to create additional discussion boards and “drop boxes”.
“Loose Groups” allowed the Class to be a Team
The Class
Group 1 Group 2 Group 3
Member 1 Member 2 Member 3
Assignment 2Assignment 1
Shared Ideas about Assignments
Shared Ideas
Assignment 3
Method Term Approx % Completed
ProjectsStudent Issues/Comments My Observations
Random Groups One assignment
per groupFA02 60
-Coasting-major contributor wanted to “fire” their partners – do all the work his or her self
-Little discussion between groups-Only a few groups used the CSCL tools- Students did not enjoy “teamwork”
Interest Groups One assignment
per groupSP03 75
-Coasting-Minor contributor felt they did not have enough opportunity to contribute
-Students lost interest, diverged from group work, -Convened with me more then their partners
Loose Groups Each member
had own assignment
FA03 90
-No Coasting-Student liked working on something of their own interest to help them learn the material-Liked sharing ideas with others
-Students learned each other’s names quickly-Communicated within and outside of own group-Requested additional discussion boards
Loose Groups Each member
had own assignment
SP04 90-No Coasting-Were encouraged by other’s ideas- Told me “You made us think”
-Several groups expressed interest to continue their project in future, many did.- used discussion board frequently
The Research Paper
Each student post his/her interest on message board – share ideas
Require students to comment on other’s interests – reflect online
Hold in class briefings to discuss progress on research paper – build socio-emotional ties*
Post comments/interesting references on message board – share, reflect
Take advantage of the CSCL Tools
Convert discussion board into HTML page, print and bring it to class for further discussion
Link together all F-to-F -> ONLINE -> F-to-F back and forth
Hold informal chat sessions out side of class time
Hold chat sessions In class!
Programming ProjectEach student choose a topic of personal interest – develop a vested interestTeams are formed by related topic of interest – similar problem domainTeams help each other complete the programming assignment – share design ideas, but the project is “their own”
Outcomes
Students begin to rely on each other for technical knowledge as well as problem domain knowledge
I too learn about their personal interests
Students learn each other’s name
Students want to show each other their work
What happens?
Students come to appreciate the wide range of programming skills available in classTeacher helps with scope, (feature creep is common) but specifications are student drivenThe Class is the super group, broken into smaller groups, broken into individual projects. Most Everyone gets the work done and they’ve learned to work with others to accomplish their own tasks