7/30/2019 Pros and Cons of Group Work Assignments

1/2

5/8/13 Weighing the Pros and Cons of Group Work Assignments

www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=4 1/2

The e4TN Difference: Inspiring

Stories in Education

e4TN has been making a significant

difference in the lives of learners and

educators for the past five years.

What is most inspiring are the

stories of the student lives that have

been immeasurably changed as a

result. [more]

Meet Ellen Smyth, APSU 2010

Innovative Professor

Smyth's approach to teaching

incorporates multiple technologies

to provide her students a t ruly rich

and engaging learning experience.

It's easy to see why Ellen Smyth

was recently announced as the

2010 Innovative Professor. [more]

Product Update: A Sneak Peek

at 9.2 and More

We can't give away all the details,

not yet, but we do want to provide

you some insight into a few of the

exciting new things you can expect

to see in the upcoming

Desire2Learn product release.

[more]

Weighing the Pros and Cons of

Group Work Assignments

While working with a Psychology

instructor recently, we engaged in a

very common debate on whether or

not to include a group project

assignment as part of the learner

assessment breakdown [more]

Annual Horizon Reader Survey

WIN a Flip Camera

Top 10 Learning Trends in

Higher Education for 2011

Top 5 Trends in Online Learning

in K-12 for 2011

Desire2Learn Employee Video

Spotlight

Service Spotlight: System Health

Check - Start the New Year at

your Best

How-To: Creating YouTube

Playlists & Intelligent Agents

FUSION 2011: ELEVATE!

Weighing the Pros and Cons of Group Work Assignments

Rick Nigol, Co-founder and Senior Consultant, eLearn Campus

While working with a Psychology instructor recently, we engaged in a very

common debate on whether or not to include a group project assignment as part

of the learner assessment breakdown in a newly revised online course. She

acknowledged that she had some very bad experiences in the past with group

work assignments in other courses, and noted that s tudents generally moan and

groan when they see these in the course outline. Students complain that it is

difficult coordinating work with their peers, and that the workload inevitably falls to

one or two persons, with the rest along for the ride. In the end, however, the instructor decided to

include a group work assignment, no matter what the difficulties. She reasoned when they get out

of school and into a job, they will have to work collaboratively in groups with others, so they may as

well start getting some practice at this. So she recognized that there are other valuable

competencies that her learners could develop that were above and beyond those related to the

subject of Psychology.

What are some of the benefits of group work ass ignments? Done correctly, group work assignments

can help learners develop competencies in:

Collaboration / teamwork

Communication / listening

Conflict management

Leadership / project management

Articulating and defending a position

Negotiating ability

Problem-solving

Of course that is not to say that group work assignments do not come with their fair share of

problems and challenges, particularly in an online course. Chief among these are:

Logistical challenges: coordinating a time when geographically-dispersed learners with

varying schedules can collaborate on projects

Lack of time to form strong group bonds

Personality conflicts among group membersHitchhikers in the group who are along for the ride and are happy to leave the work to others

Hijackers in the group who want to take over the project themselves

So what we can we do to maximize the benefits of group work and minimize its drawbacks? Here

are some tips.

Provide Clear Directions

You need to clearly lay out the goals of the assignment, directions on how it is to be completed,

and your expectations for the final product. While this should be the case for any assignment in

your course, it is especially important for group work ass ignments. Confusion and frustration will

grow exponentially times the number of group members if directions and expectations are not

crystal clear (Nigols Law).

Groups Must be an Appropriate Size

If groups are too big, it will be difficult to build group cohesion, and easy for group members to hide

and not do their fair share of work. If groups are too small, they miss out on benefitting from a range

of opinions, inputs and diverse experiences and abilities. Four or five is a good number for most

group activities.

Diversify Your Groups

Strive for heterogeneity in your groups. Try to get a good mix of majors, years and genders if

possible. Again, the idea is to encourage a diversity of viewpoints and talents to come together as a

whole -- that is better than the sum of its individual parts.

Allow Enough Time for Groups to Gel

A common mistake is to expect groups to produce their collective work in too tight a time frame.

Remember, groups need time to coalesce and work through their processes (i.e., forming, storming,

norming, performing, and all that).

Provide Some Guidance at the Outset

You can help groups get started by suggesting different roles that may be assigned within groups,

by setting out clear rules of netiquette, and by pointing to resources available on group work

(perhaps from your own institutions teaching and learning department or academic counseling

centre).

http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=7http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=5http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=4http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=3http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=11http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=10http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=9http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=8http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=7http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=6http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=5http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=4http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=4http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=3http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=3http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=2http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=2http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=1http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=1

7/30/2019 Pros and Cons of Group Work Assignments

2/2

5/8/13 Weighing the Pros and Cons of Group Work Assignments

www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=4 2/2

New to the Desire2Learn Fami ly

Be Our Guest: Contribute to The

Horizon

Refer A Friend, Score a Prize!

About Desire2Learn Incorporated

Email a Friend

Facebook Twitter Digg Google Delicious LinkedIn Reddit Bookmark

Desire2Learn Incorporated - 151 Charles Street West, Suite 400, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, N2G 1H6

Emphasize Individual Accountability

Although it is a group project, and a group mark may be assessed, you should let students know

that they will be held individually accountable for their contribution to the project. This is why it is

often a good idea to include an individual mark as part of the assessment, perhaps using peer

evaluations via transparent assessment rubrics. Again, the idea is to let learners know that there is

no hiding or slacking tolerated just because it is a group assignment.

Debrief on the Experience

Having a debrief with your students after the group assignment can serve two purposes. It provides

learners with a chance to reflect on their learnings with respect to group processes, communication,

conflicts, and the key attributes required in working with others toward common goals. And it

provides you with valuable insights to use in tweaking how you approach group work assignments in

the future.

Although I am a proponent of group work, I will not soft soap it. Group work can get nasty because

of personality c lashes among your students. However, try to resist the urge to jump in and fix things

(unless things get really ugly). Remember, urging your students to settle their own disputes is a

good way for them to develop important competencies that will serve them well in other situations.

Group work is often messy business, but then so is life. Protecting students from this is doing them

no favors.

Rick is a Co-founder and Senior Consultant at eLearn Campus, a full-service eLearning consulting

company. eLearn Campus offers a range of eLearning solutions for clients in higher education, the

corporate sector, government, non-profits, and associations.

rick@eLearnCampus.com

www.eLearnCampus.com

Want The Horizon newsletter delivered directly to your inbox? Subscribe today!

If you have any comments or editorial suggestions,

please drop us a line at TheHorizon@Desire2Learn.com

Follow Us:

Desire2Learn Website | Desire2Learn Community | Contact

Copyright 2010 Desire2Learn Incorporated. Desire2Learn and its related logos are registered trademarks of Desire2Learn Incorporated.

2

Like

mailto:TheHorizon@Desire2Learn.comhttps://community.desire2learn.com/http://www.desire2learn.com/http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=3280106http://twitter.com/Desire2Learn_PRhttp://www.facebook.com/Desire2Learnmailto:TheHorizon@Desire2Learn.comhttp://www.desire2learn.com/TheHorizon/http://www.elearncampus.com/mailto:rick@eLearnCampus.comhttp://bookmarksite%28%27%27%2C%20%27http//www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/index.asp')http://reddit.com/submit?url=http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/index.asp/&title=http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/index.asp/&title=&source=LinkedIn%20Bloghttp://del.icio.us/post?url=http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/index.asphttp://www.google.com/bookmarks/mark?op=edit&bkmk=http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/index.asp&title=http://www.digg.com/submit?phase=2&url=http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/index.asphttp://twitter.com/home?status=Currently%20reading%20http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/index.asphttp://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/index.asphttp://www.desire2learn.com/http://www.desire2learn.com/contact/tellafriend/?emailRefer=http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=15http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=14http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=13http://www.desire2learn.com/newsletters/Horizon/Issue20/articles/?id=12