Exploring Group Projects

What Are Group Projects?

A group project is an activity involving two or more students working together on a common deliverable or set of deliverables, often over a period of time.

Why Use Group Projects?

Collaborative projects are opportunities for students to complete assignments that may be too comprehensive for them to accomplish on their own. Group projects also provide for real-world experience, since teamwork is commonplace in the work environment. The social nature of group projects also make them especially helpful for building a sense of community in an online course.

PLEASE READ: This blog post by Debbie Morrison, an educator from George Washington University, provides an interesting summary of the rationale for using group projects. The embedded video by Steven Johnson is especially thought-provoking:

• Why We Need Group Work in Online Learning

Best Ways to Use Group Projects?

Not surprisingly, many students dislike group projects for a variety of reasons ranging from interpersonal issues to concerns about fairness in grading. Thus, any group activity in your course should have a solid purpose aligned to one or more particular objectives that you convey to students with absolute clarity.

Planning for Group Projects

Because group work tends to have much at stake for students--a greater involvement of time and effort and, typically, a larger portion of one’s overall grade--you will want to invest a fair amount of time to plan the project well. Based on the results of their study involving collaborative work in online graduate courses, Brindley, Walti, and Blaschke (2009) recommend considering these seven elements:

1. Facilitate learner readiness for group work and provide scaffolding to build skills.

2. Establish a health balance between structure (clarity of task) and learner autonomy (flexibility of task).

3. Nurture the establishment of learner relationships and sense of community.

4. Monitor group activities actively and closely.

5. Make the group task relevant for the learner.

6. Choose tasks that are best performed by a group.

7. Provide sufficient time.

Designing for Group Projects

The following suggestions from Johnson and Miles (2004) will help you design an effective team project:

1. Design the group project to accomplish something that cannot be done, or cannot be done as well, by individuals alone.

2. Design authentic assessment of course objectives and competencies utilizing group work as the primary method to build community. (We’ll explore community in the 5.3 section).

3. Design a group project that clearly explains the goals, process, and expected outcomes of collaboration and clearly defines evaluation criteria to be used.

PLEASE GO: Take a few moments to go through Johnson and Miles’ slide presentation, prepared for the 2004 TELECOOP conference, that provides specifics on their suggestions:

• Building Community in the Online Classroom Through Group Work

OPTIONAL: Many educators have posted excellent additional ideas for group work that you may wish to browse:

• Promoting Collaborative Learning in Online Courses

  - A brief article in Faculty Focus by Rob Kelly that includes good ideas for project organization

• Is ‘Teamwork’ an Oxymoron for Online Learning?

  - A blog post by Sharon Guan of DePaul University

References

• Brindley, J. E., Walti, C., & Blaschke, L.M. (2009). Creating effective collaborative learning groups in an online environment. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 10(3). Retrieved from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/675/1271

• Guan, S. (2009, July 31). Is “teamwork” an oxymoron for online learning? Message posted to http://www.iddblog.org/?p=216

• Johnson, L., & Miles, K. (2004). Building community in the online classroom through group work. [Slide Presentation] Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/lisamariejohnson/building-community-in-the-online-classroom-through-group-work

• Kelly, R. (2009, June 5). Promoting collaborative learning in online courses. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/promoting-collaborative-learning-in-online-courses/

• Morrison, D. (2012, March 24). Why we need group work in online learning. [Blog Post] Retrieved from http://onlinelearninginsights.wordpress.com/2012/03/24/why-we-need-group-work-in-online-learning/

Examples of Group Projects

Example 1

Group Project Set-Up for HLTHST 101 Medical Terminology Course at Boise State University

Students must access the Groups link on the course site under the content section, and sign up for a group based upon the first letter of his/her last name. These groups will also be used to determine the due date for projects as found in the schedule in this syllabus.

Whether you plan to participate in Zoom sessions (live sessions using a microphone/headset combination), or in Discussion Boards, you need to join a group.  You will note that the groups were selected based upon the first letter of your last name as it is listed in the user's portion of the site.  Groups are listed in the syllabus.  Please make sure that you enroll yourself in one of these groups during the first week of class so that your participation points can be counted.  These groups are also used to determine which week your project is due (by Saturday at 11:59 p.m. Mountain time of that week).

Example 2

Example of Group Assignment for HLTHST 300 Pathophysiology Course at Boise State University

Estimated time: 60 minutes

Date due: Initial post - Sunday 11 PM Mountain

Date due: Reply post - Wednesday 11 PM Mountain

1. The Case Study 1 document is available in Lesson 3 and contains scenarios from Chapters 8, 9, and 10.

   • Click Groups from the main course menu.

   • Select your Case Study 1 Group Assignment.

   • Click Group Discussion Board.

   • Select the Case Study 1 Discussion Board forum for your group.

   • Click Create Thread and enter your name as the subject of the thread.

   • In the Message text entry box, answer the questions that are associated with your scenario.

   • Click Submit to create the new thread.

Your initial post on your scenario is due Sunday, 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time.

In your follow-up comment, please comment at least once on another student who answered the same scenario as you, as well as one comment on a different scenario. An answer key will be posted by the following Wednesday to ensure that you understood the content.

Your TA will grade your Case Study postings. You will receive a grade of up to 15 points based on your answers to this assignment. You will be graded on the timeliness of your posts, as well as the answer provided and your response posts. Please provide substantive responses to all questions, including your peers' responses - saying "That was a great answer" will earn 0 points for the response.