SHOWCASE: Managing Group Work Activities and Collaborative Student Projects

Abstract

Instructors often hear a collective student groan when they announce that a course includes a group project. Students flashback to group projects that went awry and ended in poor grades and extra work for the conscientious among the group. Nevertheless, teamwork skills are in high demand among employers and is often a skill set noted as lacking in today’s graduating students. This session focuses on how instructors can better facilitate group interactions and increase student accountability and engagement in group activities and collaborative projects by focusing on the process as well as the outcome. Speakers will present lightning talks on their solutions to these challenges. The panel will discuss the pros and cons of each solution and will share their observations on the evolution of the method in their classes. Participants are invited to discuss their challenges and consider how the solutions presented might apply to their course. By the end of this session, participants will be able to easily apply a new method of managing group activities and collaborative projects, across any modality – face-to-face, hybrid or on-line.

Conveners: Laura Wheeler Poms, Ala Showers

List of speakers:
• Steven Harris-Scott, PhD, INTO Mason and Department of History and Art History, College of Humanities and Social Science, “Scaffolding group assignments to focus on group dynamics in a fully-online course”
• Sophia Marshall, MHR. Business Foundations, School of Business, “How to use accountability methods to make teamwork more meaningful”
• Jihye Moon, PhD, Modern and Classical Languages, College of Humanities and Social Science, “Adapting collaborative projects for different course modalities”
• Jill Nelson, PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Volgenau School of Engineering, “Short Collaborative Activities as Formative Assessments”
• Laura Wheeler Poms, PhD, Global and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, “Using peer and self-evaluation to improve accountability and performance”
• Shannyn Snyder, MAIS, Global and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, “Using low stakes collaborative assignments as building blocks for higher stakes projects”
• Shvetha Soundararajan, PhD, Computer Science, Volgenau School of Engineering “Using ‘sprints’ to improve student accountability and project management”
• Elaine Viccora, MSW, Business Foundations, School of Business, “Building connections to foster teamwork and collaboration”
• Patrice Winter, DPT, Global and Community Health, College of Health and Human Services, “Using individual assignments to facilitate group assignments”