The Care and Feeding of Student Learning Groups
Posted January 7, 2015
By Dr. Don Forsyth
@donforsyth
Professors who are considering adopting more student-focused teaching methods often start by adding a group project to their list of course requirements. A group project can transform even the largest classes into more intimate educational undertakings. When students work and learn together in groups they can pool their knowledge and abilities, give each other feedback, and tackle learning tasks too overwhelming to face alone. Group assignments, even if they are not the most efficient way to teach content, help students develop a rare interpersonal skill—that of working effectively with others in groups.
But the professor who decides to take the “no one of us is a smart as all of us” approach may soon wonder if group activities are more trouble than they are worth. Group projects require a modicum of organizational skill, and students are often unwilling and unable to achieve the level of coordination needed for success. Too often one or more of the members does not take the work seriously, and so becomes the free rider who coasts along to the semester’s end. Interpersonal conflicts and discord often overtake groups, particularly those working on extended projects that require frequent meetings. These kinds of problems are so common that many students dread group projects as much as term papers. They worry that a group project will not only waste their time and energy, but possibly even lower their GPA. The most often heard complaint about groups: “I ended up doing all the work myself, and we still got a B- on the final project.”
Fortunately, a little tweaking of the group project assignment will do much to ensure that the limitations of group learning are minimized and the gains enhanced.
• CREATE SMALL, DIVERSE GROUPS. If groups will be working for only a short time then almost any method can be used to divide students into groups. But when groups are working on a challenging, graded task that will require extensive time investment, then care must be taken when composing the groups. If groups are formed too haphazardly some may be comprised of the most talented, hardworking students in the class, producing imbalances in group potentialities and undoing the benefits of peer-to-peer teaching. Some of these limitations are less likely in larger groups, but large learning groups face problems of their own—reduced cohesion, free riding, and too few times when all members can meet. Small (3 or 4 members) but diverse groups have a better chance of becoming cohesive and coordinated.
• CLARIFY THE ASSIGNMENT. Inserting a line in the course syllabus that states “Students will work in learning teams on a semester-long project” provides students with too little information about the assignment’s purposes and processes. A nicely detailed assignment guide, in contrast, will help students better understand the dual purposes of the assignment (to examine a course topic in depth and to develop collaborative skills), the type of projects groups will be completing (a group paper, presentation, research project, interviews, etc.), deadlines, and so on.
• SEGMENT THE ASSIGNMENT. Many professors, when they ask their students to complete a term paper, often break the task down into subtasks with specific deadlines; for example, they require students identify a topic, develop a thesis statement, annotate at least five resources, and so on. This method, applied to long-term group projects, argues for identifying graduated subgoals that must be completed at specific points in the process. Frequent, specific tasks will help the groups move forward at a more auspicious rate, but they also provide the groups with an opportunity to practice working together. Sports teams do not play a single championship game at the end of the season; instead, they practice regularly to improve their coordination and effectiveness. Similarly, project groups should perform smaller, more specific problems early on in the semester as they develop into an effectively functioning team.
• GIVE THE GROUPS A GROUP TASK. The best kinds of group projects are ones that are so challenging that students must combine their individual talents and energy to achieve the identified goal. If students are assigned divisible problems, they usually spend their first meeting splitting up the problem and assigning each part to a specific member. Nondivisible problems, such as community-learning projects, program evaluations, research studies, and so on, are harder to solve piecemeal so students must work together to complete them. The greater the interdependence required by the group project, the more likely the project will stimulate higher level learning processes, including peer-to-peer instruction, strategy formulation, improved coordination of action, conflict management, and enhanced willingness to exert effort in the pursuit of learning goals.
• CONSULT REGULARLY. Working in groups may help students develop teamwork skills, but in many cases they will need guidance as these skills develop. Some of the class’s time can be used for group meetings, but also for more general sessions that examine teamwork basics: leadership, group roles and responsibilities, process planning, communication, information technologies, and so on. Some groups, too, may require more direct coaching and supervision. A well-timed intervention (feedback, encouragement, adjustments to composition, etc.) will help the group stay on course and reach its learning outcomes more easily.
• INCLUDE PEER EVALUATIONS. One of the primary complaints about student learning groups stems from the uneven contribution of members. Some members work diligently on the group’s tasks, but others exert little effort. This tendency to engage in social loafing or free riding can be reduced if the members evaluate each other and if those evaluations influence students’ grades.
A group project, then, requires considerable care in design and implementation—but these precautions are worth the effort. In too many cases students learn just one lesson when they work on projects in groups: avoid working in groups. Would it not be better if students instead learned that groups need not be inefficient in their use of time and mediocre in their level of achievement, but when properly conceived and organized offer members an ideal means of achieving the most challenging of educational outcomes?
[Donelson R. Forsyth, a social and personality psychologist, holds the Colonel Leo K. and Gaylee Thorsness Endowed Chair in Ethical Leadership at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond. A fellow of the American Psychological Association, he researches and writes about ethics, groups, and related topics. Dr. Forsyth is the author of the Noba module "The Psychology of Groups" http://noba.to/trfxbkhm]
