Tutoring and Demonstrating - Guiding Group Projects

Guiding Group Projects

In recent years, universities have been placing increasing emphasis on developing in students the skill of working in teams or groups. This reflects the changing nature of many workplaces in which graduates find employment, where team work has become a central activity. In some areas, group projects are set as an integral part of learning; they represent a valuable extension of individual activities. However, there are sometimes serious problems if a project is not adequately planned, structured and supervised. A bad experience in a group project is particularly distressing for students, as they can feel they are not in control, no matter how conscientious they are. It can actually teach them that others are untrustworthy, a learning outcome which runs directly counter to the objective.

What can go wrong in a group project?

1. One or two students do all the work.
2. The quality of work varies considerably, but students are given a common mark, so the more able or conscientious students feel they have been treated unfairly.
3. The editor of the report re-writes other contributions significantly.
4. There is unresolved conflict among students about ways to proceed.
5. Students encounter major logistical problems in meeting, exchanging material, and so on.

   Some may argue that these are exactly the problems encountered in the workplace or any organisation and that it is valuable for students to experience the 'real world'. However, education is about preparing students for such situations, not about throwing them in at the deep end. The goal is to give them structured learning opportunities and gradually to withdraw the support until they reach a position of full independence. Strong structures are particularly important for first year students.

   Aims and objectives Enhancing group projects Plan the project very carefully: ensure that the topic is manageable in the time, that it is suitable for group work and lends itself to being divided into discrete tasks. Build progress reports into the timeline. Prepare short briefing notes for students on general procedural matters, such as how often they might aim to meet, how to allocate responsibilities and how to handle conflict. Inform them of resources that may be available to them, such as computing facilities. Discuss these matters in a briefing session, giving them ample opportunity to ask questions and clarify any uncertainties. Think about how you are going to organise the groups. There are different views on this matter. Some teachers believe that students will work more productively and happily if they can choose their own teams; others believe that part of the experience should be learning to work with a diverse group of unfamiliar people, and assign students to groups on this basis. In your teaching, you may well try both approaches and reach your own conclusions about the relative benefits. To start with, you could be guided by the practice of more experienced colleagues. Where the group work is to be assessed, make sure that the assessment procedure is clear and that criteria are defined. If you have some control over the form of assessment, discuss with students what they think is a fair system. They are likely to favour separate marks according to individual contributions. An alternative is to give an overall mark for the project but invite students to assess their own and others' contributions to establish weightings for the determination of individual marks. Teachers who have used this method usually report that the students are very fair in their judgements. If you are new to group assessment, it is probably advisable to seek the advice of experienced colleagues on the mechanics of such procedures. Be prepared to intervene if the group gets into serious difficulty, especially with first year students. This is a matter of judgement. You don't want students raising problems or complaints all the time; part of the point of the exercise is their learning to work through these cooperatively. But if things go disastrously wrong (students disappearing entirely, for instance), you need to rescue the project for the sake of all.

   Leading problem-solving sessions

   Teaching in a laboratory or practical class

   Problem-based learning

   Clinical tutoring

   Next chapter: Chapter 7: Assessment, feedback and support

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