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Study Guide & Strategies
Organizing and working on
group project
When your group controls the
(learning) process, your learning is faster, more relevant, and
sustained. Assessment is built into your group's competency and
control.
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What |
Who |
How |
When: |
Self-introductions:
interests & qualifications |
all |
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Meeting #1 |
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Determine convenor and/or clerk, as well as recorder of
meetings |
all |
- determined by group process
- factors to consider:
volunteers, experience, expertise, desire to learn,
- manner of distributing/posting
minutes
- review minutes to track
progress
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Meeting #1 |
Set group communications:
frequency & means |
all |
- face-to-face meetings: time &
location
- telephone: list numbers &
convenient times
- e-mail: addresses
(distribution lists)
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Meeting #1 |
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Summarize objectives |
all |
Suggestion:
- each member independently
writes down two or three main objective's of the project.
- Group compares and agrees upon
objectives
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Meeting #1 |
Determine process
to achieve objectives |
all |
- project planning tools
(Gantt, Critical Path, PERT)
- project production tools
(word processing, demonstration
software (PowerPoint), etc.
- stages of development
- critical sequencing (timeline)
- assign sub-groups
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Meeting #? |
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In the
case of large sub-groups: begin again above! |
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Research |
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- library research
- field research
- other:
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Analyze research/findings |
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- mid-stream check-in
- planning for gaps
- requests for assistance
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Outline "product" |
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- opening paragraph/thesis
statement
- individual topics
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Write/Compile
document/presentation |
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- opening paragraph
- body
- closing arguments/statement
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Document & create bibliography |
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| Test |
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Review and evaluate |
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- product
- process
- participation
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| Summarize |
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| Rehearse
presentation |
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| Present
final product |
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| Celebrate |
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Philosophy of group
projects
Group learning, or working in groups,
involves shared and/or learned values, resources, and ways of doing
things. Effective groups learn to succeed by combining these
factors. However, each group, and each individual, will only be as
effective as they are willing to embrace and/or respect differences
within the group.
Interaction within the group
is based upon mutual respect and encouragement.
Often creativity is vague.
Ideas are important to the success of the project, not
personalities. A group's strength lies in its ability to develop
ideas individuals bring.
Conflict can be an extension of
creativity; the group should be aware of this eventuality.
Resolution of conflict balances the end goals with mutual respect.
In other words, a group project is a cooperative, rather than a
competitive, learning experience.
The two major objectives of a
group project are:
- What is learned:
factual material as well as the
process
- What is produced:
written paper, presentation, and/or
media project
Role of
instructors/teachers/professors:
- The success of the outcome depends
on the clarity of the objective(s) given by teachers, as well as
guidelines on expectations. The group's challenge is to interpret
these objectives, and then determine how to meet them
- The process of group work is only
as effective as teachers or instructors manage and guide the
process.
Group projects are not informal collaborative groups.
Students must be aware of, and prepared for, this group process.
Cooperative group projects should be structured so that no
individual can coast on the efforts of his/her teammates
Scoring:
- Rewards ideally should be
intrinsic to the process, with group members deriving their reward
from their contributions to the group and project
- External reinforcement (grades,
etc) for individuals can be based upon improvement, as opposed to
comparative, scoring. Traditional, comparative scoring works to
the detriment of teams with low-achieving members. Evaluation
based upon improvement rewards the group for an individual?s
progress. Peer, comparative evaluations can have a negative
effect on teams: low scoring members are considered "undesirable"
and drags upon performance
High achievers versus low
achievers?
- We assume high achievers mentor or
teach low achievers. In the process of teaching others, we can
learn more about the topic. As we tutor, even simple questions
from the tutee make us look at our subject matter freshly. As we
explain, we gain a deeper understanding of the topic. Low
achievers then tutor or teach high achievers!
- High achievers profit in
cooperative learning in other ways: leadership skills, self-esteem
gains, conflict resolution skills, and role-taking abilities which
become part of the leaning process, and betterment of the student.
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