Group Projects: experiences in the trenches
Tip Sheet 8
Tony Norman, Psychology from the CTL Workshop
April 3, 1995
1. Working with group assignments produces a common set of problems: social loafing,
time constraints, evaluation.
2. The benefits of using group projects are: the group product is better than the
indi- vidual products, students feel or become more committed/connected in a group
be- cause they learn more from each other than from the instructor.
3. Randomly assign group members to avoid cliques and promote diversity.
4. Set up a time table with checkpoints for progrss and deadlines.
5. Have students take minutes of their group meetings and keep attendance and turn
them in.
5. If students have difficulty meeting they may be able to use E-mail to communicate
or you may designate class time for working on the group project.
6. Plan some way for geographically or socially isolated students to contribute.
7. Having a series of small projects rather than a single large one allows individuals
to learn how to work with each other.
8. Members must be personally accountable for their contributions and must be aware
of their accountability. Peer evalua- tion is one way of accomplishing this or have
team member roles (assigned by group members). One participant suggested allowing
teams to ''fire'' individuals.
9. Include your evaluation procedures in the syllabus.
The Faculty Center for Excellence in Teaching
facet@wku.edu -- Phone (270) 745-6508 -- Fax (270) 745-6145.
Location: 1783 Chestnut Street, Bowling Green, KY 42101.
Mailing Address: 1906 College Heights Blvd #11095, Bowling Green, KY 42101-1095.
Page created date: c2000; Last modified: April 2003.
Site created: July 1996. All contents © since 1996.
This page is in compliance with Section 508 and W3C Priority-I guidelines.
If you find it to be inaccessible, please contact the Webmaster with the URL.
