Session+Two

= __**SESSION TWO: REFLECTION ON GROUP ASSIGNMENTS**__ =

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Think back to an experience you had working with groups (either online or face-to-face). What was one challenge you had with this experience? Please add your challenge to the table and offer strategies to address the challenges posted by others.=====

Gilda
 * ~ Face-to-Face Challenge ||~ Strategies ||~ Online Challenge ||~ Strategies ||
 * ===**//Use the rows in this column to describe face-to-face group work challenges you have faced.//**=== || ===**//Use the rows in this column to suggest strategies for the posted face-to-face group work challenges.//**=== || ===**//Use the rows in this column to describe online group work challenges you have faced.//**=== || ===**//Use the rows in this column to suggest strategies for the posted online group work challenges.//**=== ||
 * Tish - people not fulfilling their role in the group and everyone else having to pick up the slack while they get the same credit || You might use the ideas from the "Tips for Facilitating Online Group Work." I liked the idea where a percentage of their participation grade comes from their evaluation of each other.-Amber || Tish - I have not faced this online but my face to face challenge is more of a concern here. Any suggestions? || Maybe this is why I have always liked the wiki - you can see who has participated, even if the participant forgets to put their name - like we are doing - there are histories that will allow you to keep track of it.

Tish, maybe we can give the group members the authority to deal with the slackers in some way. (If your group has a leader, this could be their task.) Maybe group member evaluations, discussing the problem with the facilitator, or discussing the problem with the slacker. Carolyn || --Stephanie || I am working with a group on a 25 page document. We have face to face meetings but we share the draft document through [|www.dropbox.com]. Everyone can upload and download the files from any computer. When a document is uploaded the date and time are listed so you can always tell which draft is the most recent. **Sandy **
 * I work collaboratively with alot of different people on different projects **and** in many different locations. Organization alone is a huge problem for me, keeping everything together where it can be found by all parties and making sure everyone has the most current up-to-date information.

Stephanie have you ever tried a tool like GoogleDocs or GoogleSites (which creates a location for many GoogleDocs and Google Calendars)? We have used them to great success in some our internal work. What I like best is that all the information is real-time. No one has to download, make changes, and re-upload. Everything there is the latest version.--Valerie

I love the googledocs- what about the WVDE Webtop - have you tried it? ~Melissa || I guess the biggest problem with online group collaboration is the time factor. (Guilty) If the group is working on a project in which each member has an integral part that must be completed and group interaction and dialog is a must, it is very important that the time frame be concise. It is the same as what happens in the online courses we facilitate. There have been times that participants have submitted their projects so late that no one could or was required to provide the necessary feedback. Even though time limits are in place, they are not always followed. Another problem I see is work quality. I have been in online group settings where the overall work of the group was not up to my expectations for professionals. I have a real issue with folks who neglect to proofread or use incorrect English (of course, it IS the English teacher in me). I proofread everything from everyone. I even make mistakes (typos) in my own writing, but I abhor them and always catch them (only sometimes after I have sent the email)! I guess I at least have high expectations. Honestly, though, I have seen some very poor quality work from peers, and if it a part of a group project, what is the best way to handle it? Jackie || You would probably need to create a rubric so that everyone will know what the exact requirements are. Also, I have given a group grade and an individual grade based upon the entire project and then each person's part of it. You could also have them peer assess each other's work based upon the same rubric. - Tish

Jackie I'm taking a big risk replying to your post. I'm usually one of the guilty ones, although I've definately tried to improve of this when I'm the facilitator. Seriously, I think, if we try groups in our class, we should consider putting at least one English teacher in each group as a proof reader. If there are not enough English teachers, we could make "proof reader" one of the jobs. I have never felt comfortable enough in my own ability, to take on the task of correcting someone elses English. However, we should be professional. Maybe we should state from the very beginning, that since we are professionals, projects will be expected to use proper English. If a facilitator told me that up front, I wouldn't be offended and would do a better job proof reading my work. Yikes!! Be kind, I probably have some improper sentence structure in here somewhere. LOL Gilda ||
 * One of the worst stories from group work came from one of my former students. I didn't know about this at the time; she told me later. She was in a class where the teacher successfully used collaborative learning. However, this student was put in a long-term group with a boy she had dated years before. Ex-boyfriend told her, as he gritted his teeth, "I don't care if I fail this class. I'm making sure you don't get a good grade." She never told the teacher; she just worked extra hard to take up his slack. Pam || Yikes! Now that's one I've never had before! Maybe there could be a protocol in place before group work begins for people to privately tell the instructor of any issues that might need to be taken into consideration before groups are assigned.--Valerie

Wow! That is horrible...too bad she couldn't confide in you while that was occuring. Have you ever seen John Strebe? He is an awesome, awesome presenter on collaborative/cooperative groups. If you ever get the chance, take it!! :) He says that learners should be grouped only for a set amount of time and then change them up. He also says that, for example, the first few weeks of school when teams are being established, that teams should change alot until you find "good fits" in all of the teams. Stephanie || I have participated in several online projects involving my students. We have shared monster drawings, exchanged weather information, and exchanged cultural information. One problem I have had is some of the teachers who also signed up to participate didn't follow through. My kids did their part and received nothing in return and have been very disappointed. I'm not sure how to get others to live up to their commitment. Sandy || I guess I might write some emails to check in with the other group and request the information. We can't make someone write us back but we can bug them a bit to do so. I might share how excited your students are to see the other groups' work. You could turn it into a teachable moment as well and talk about netiquette, manners, responsibilities.I would keep everything positive though.-Amber ||
 * The problem that I always face: one person does the majority of the work. I have assigned roles and used rubrics to try to defeat this problem, but it still shows its ugly head.
 * // Melissa Boothe //

Thanks I will look into his work~ Melissa || I have often allowed group members to evaluate each other using a small rubric. I would say you are evaluating the performance of the person to your left today. They had to summarize key points the person contributed and check on the rubric if the person made significant contributions. It worked fairly well, but was a bit time consuming. (Jane)

Melissa...I responded to Pam about John Strebe (above). His strategy has shown to be very effective...through team points and holding students accountable to each other. He now has a book out, which explains his strategies in detail. Stephanie

Melissa, I agree that participation is the issue. We need to stress accountability for all group members. However, that doesn't always work. In one of our readings for the session, there was a suggestion for team members to evaluate their own work in the group. Maybe they could also evaluate other team members, as Jane suggested. Carolyn || I have not used groups online yet. I will be interested in seeing the posts. ~ Melissa || In the reading, the point about groups failing due to the lack of sense of community caught my eye. If there is failure to bond, then the group is not going to be strong and it will probably fail. ~ Melissa || (Jane Meador) || Perhaps the E-learning leadership team facilitators and developers could develop a model for assessing the group components.-Shawn
 * How do we effectively evaluate group participation. Group grades, single grade, both, rubrics, checklists, notes? I've asked groups members to rate each other. Regardless of what I've tried, I'm not really satisfied

// Evaluation and grading can be 2 different things too. In my county, we have adopted a new grading policy (based on the book "A Repair Kit for Grading" by Ken O'Connor) - and in such, we cannot include group grades into an indiviudal student's grade unless group work is a specific CSO we are assessing. The grades we give are to be solely the progress our students gain toward the CSOs.

I know that can be done differently for our purposes in online facilitation for adult students, but this still might be a concern. - Sara // || A problem I just experienced with online groups is that I just deleted the entire contents of this page of the wiki with one stroke. Have no idea which key? Oh my, What to do? Is there an undo button? I did remain calm enough to close without saving? What if a less tech savy person had done that? (Jane) || A wiki has a built-in escape hatch -- the wiki page keeps track of each change. By selecting History and choosing an earlier version, we can revert to the page before the disaster happened. We can also see how the page has changed through time and who has been the agent for each change. Pam Thanks for summing that up Pam! Yup, we can fix those kinds of issues and see a history of who has contributed what (although I like that people have been signing their names, because that is so much easier!!!)--Valerie

I always try to warn people what might happen before it happens and then tell them to email me right away so I can fix it. I never catch everything but it does help others to know these things happen. Tish

One person can only edit at a time also. The good news is you usually have an "owner" of the wiki and then just "contributors" so the owner can always recover "lost material!" ~ Melissa || Like many others in this discussion, the most difficult face to face challenge in group work in my classroom is that it is not a true "group" project as some of the students do most of the work and some do very little or no work. I have tried to put safeguards into place especially for my literature circle groups by having each student be responsible for a particular job of the literature circle discussion, but it even seems like this doesn't work because students still come to the discussion unprepared. My students complete several learning projects in a semester so I would love to figure out how to motivate all of them to participate equally in the group activities. I do use rubrics, whole group evaluations, group reflection journals, etc. It seems that the students are less concerned about who gets what grade and more concerned about protecting each other. I would like to give them the ball where group evaluation is their responsibility but so far that has not worked. For literature circles I go from group to group and listen to the discussions and give a point value based on a rubric. I also make them turn in the written jobs for the group discussions. Any suggestions for managing group work so that it is truly group work? Jackie || It is very frustrating when we have students that will not hold up their end. I think the tasks you assign, the rubrics, and evaluations you use are great at trying to overcome the issue. My only other suggestion would be to have a individual and group conferences with students and groups as the group projects are going on so that progress can be monitored. Maybe in doing this along the way, we can lessen the lack of progress and strengthen the group collaboration. -Sara || One time I had an online partner and he disappeared online. I asked the facilitator if I could work with someone else and she said that she was about to suggest that and found me a new partner who was wonderful to work with. I wonder, as a facilitator, how do you word a request to change a group or partner so that it does not hurt anyone's feelings or cause discord in the class?-Amber || I think the important thing to consider is that these courses are for Professioanl Development. If a participant drops the course, no one should have feelings hurt. However, as a professional to not complete the work you have agreed to do, you are acting unprofessionally and the facilitator needs to intervene. Many may not be accustomed to being part of a team and they need assistance moving to being a 21st century learner. -Shawn
 * 

When starting out on your group project adventure, reserve the right to change groups. When I do groups in class I always have that right and it seems to help. Also, put a positive spin on it. For example, this group really needs someone who is a creative thinker. I would like to put you in this group to share ideas. Or I would like to move you here because you seem very organized. Sometimes you have to stretch the truth but the positive comments will do wonders. || Shawn Hawkins || I think that giving clear time frames and asking that the time frames be written and handed in for review are ways to ensure that work and not socializing is being accomplished. I like a grapic organizer of some type to keep the group focused with specific deadlines for each task. Jackie
 * The biggest issue with face-to-face collaboration is timing and focus. Many times getting together turns social and not focused on the task at hand. But also, attempting to get all of the people who need to be included, timing does not allow all participants to be at face-to-face meeting. Lastly, funding for travel, expenses, etc also needs to be considered.

Shawn, I agree that group work can turn social. We need to always give specific rules to our groups and caution them of wasting time chit-chatting. Carolyn || If working on a project, say for example in a specific content. Many times the experience, knowledge and responsibility levels are "free ranging". Collaboration may fall to one person to oranize and complete a majority of the work.- Shawn || According to the readings, we as facilitators must determine if a group leader can prioritize and assign responsibilities (Stage 2). If not, we have to do that aspect so that the rest of the process will go more smoothly. Once we get past Stage 2, our job becomes one of monitoring progress. Pam ||
 * ||  || I talked to my daughter-in-law, who took several online classes as an elementary education major in college. Some of her classes involved group work. She said the biggest problem occurred in a writing class; she and her group were co-writing poetry, but she couldn't continue with her part of the project until another participant did hers. That participant was an overextended mommy who wouldn't do her part until almost midnight on the day it was due. Pam || How awful. I don't like to work late at night or at the last minute so I would have hated this situation. I'm not sure what your daughter could have done, but perhaps the teacher should have created staggered deadlines for getting the stages of the project done.

I found this to be a problem also. A deadline for a group as a whole needs several small deadlines to put it altogether. || Julie || I would put that person with different people for different groups. I would have that group sit nearby so that I could keep an eye on any behavior that was unexpected. I would also help that child with the task so that the group didn't feel disappointed with the work. Julie || I think that communication could be the biggest problem with an online class. If good communication doesn't occur then many issues could erupt. I could see someone doing the same part as others or things like that. Julie || Provide a document that helped with communication about who is doing what. Also require things as google docs so that every group memeber has access to each person's part of the project. The facilitator can also stress good communication at the beginning of the project. Julie || I forget what it is called, but when setting up the group rules, you set a time limit for everyone to talk and you must go around the group and allow everyone their turn. They are only allowed to pass one time, but must make comments all the other times-Sally || **I have been a member of a book study that was conducted totally on a wiki. The problem was getting people to post within the timeframe. Less tech-saavy people had difficulties** || **Posting a calendar with due dates might help. Email reminders might help. Tutorials that review the wiki procedures should help with the technology problems** .
 * The biggest problem that I have had with face to face group work is the personalities of the group members. I had a child in my class that no one wanted to work with for any project at anytime.
 * In college - we were given an assignment. The professor gave us a problem to solve - but the final aspect was - that everyone had to agree to the solution - and if anyone disagreed - it didn't count. All the groups came back with an agreed upon solution but mine. Luckily - the professor was not actually counting it - he was more or less doing a social interaction experiment. However, it caused some rifs that some people never got over - and the professor had to make sure not be put those people in the same group again. Gilda || That's terrible! The point of working in a group is to get different viewpoints and extend knowledge. This is important for us to remember. I would hate to cause problems for participants in the future. Tish || Background Check --- this was when I was a participant trying to get my masters in Special Ed. Problem was - I was regular ed - and some participants were not even teaching at the time. The professor set up small groups with assignments geared toward people who were teaching at the time in Special Education rooms. For those of us that weren't - we had to work extra to finish our part of the assignment. I never thought it was quite fair. Gilda || I understand your point. I think that an important aspect of any group collaboration is the dynamics of the group itself. In the classroom, we know the students and how they will be able to work, but online it is a different story. I believe that in using online group work, that the groupings would be an important factor for the facilitator to consider. I think we see it sometimes in our courses, when we have participants that are not teachers involved. It creates a whole challenge on its own when we put teachers and support staff in the same courses. The expectations are different for certain. I really think that the two groups of participants should be separated in the courses so that the needs and expectations of both groups can be met more effectively. Jackie ||
 * **I have been in group situations where there has been a know-it-all or attention hog. I quickly get bored with these people and shut down as a group participant. I just want to do my thing and let the loud-mouth do everything else if they want to. Claudia ** || ** Assigned tasks with clear parameters should at least allow everyone to participate equally. Also rotating tasks should help as well. Peer evaluations of the level of participation might help the bossy ones see how their behavior is perceived by others. Claudia **

I have participated in online book studys and the number one accountability piece was adminstrator support. If you have that support, teachers are more willing to participate. Stephanie  || Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members: JoAnn || I have not encountered any online groups while taking or facilitating classes. I do know a teacher who just completed her online Masters Degree and one of her constant complaints was that during assigned group work they were always covering for one weak or missing participant. Nanette  || I have to suggest individual assignments with in the group assignment that each is responsible for. Maybe there could be a group leader who can or is willing to report back to the facilitator about slacking group members or group members who are having difficulty. Nanette || JoAnn ||  ||   ||   || I utilize work groups in my studio classes but have not assigned group grades before. I grade them individually on what they achieve. This eliminates the possibility of one taking up the slack for others. Nanette || I am assigning individual grades within the task assigned. Students don’t worry about how others performance effects their grades. They do take pride in their work and do resent when their classmates don’t carry their weight. Nanette || I have been a participant in an online group course with seasoned facilitators. It was a first for many and there were so many questions about what was expected of us. I believe that the facilitator of the course assumed that we were familiar with online group work (wiki) and many were not. Never assume everyone is onboard with technology; make it your business to know your participants technology skills…this will help you as well as the participants. JoAnn ||  || JoAnn || complete or turn in the assignment. || Sally || One way I have found that may not stop that one student from not participating but it saves everyones grade in that group. I make individual assignments for the group so each one receives an individual grade as well as a group grade. I sometimes let them do the assigning of work and then turn that into me so I know who was supposed to do what Sally || When you are in an online class doing group work, especially if the teacher assigned the groups and you do not really know everyone in your group-it may be difficult to get everyone to participate fully or even know if they are going to. We did email that person to see if they were planning on participating and eventually had to go to the teacher. Sally ||  ||
 * My group situations online have been limited. Most group experience has been face to face which has been favorable. As far as the classroom is concerned it has been a fixed bag. I find that my higher level students do a better job with group work than a class of average students. Socializing is a constant battle. I continue to try group work but I'm not sure at times how productive it is. Mary || I like using a rubric or a checklist. Students know exactly what is expected of them. I'm a fairly organized person so I have also found that giving due dates and time limits are helpful. I also like to mix up the groups and not keep the same groups all year long. The more I know my students the more I change the groups. Mary || I can't say tht I'm really ever faced any online group difficulties. If there is a problem, it is usually me trying to figure out the technology which doesn't deter me. I wasn't a fan of wikis when I first was introduced to them the first year of TLI. They have become more user friendly. Mary || I guess I'm still old school but I like communicating via email. However, not everyone answers which is a problem. I've run into that a lot with facilitating. Time seems to be an issue with everyone so I agree with Claudia that a calendar would be helpful. I'm also a fan of online tutorials that show step by step, which buttons to push, etc. ||
 * || ** Cooperative learning ** is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping teammates learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it.
 * gain from each other's efforts. (Your success benefits me and my success benefits you.)
 * recognize that all group members share a common fate. (We all sink or swim together here.)
 * know that one's performance is mutually caused by oneself and one's team members. (We can not do it without you.)
 * feel proud and jointly celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement. (We all congratulate you on your accomplishment!).
 * One problem that I encountered with face-to-face group work is keeping students on task. Many times the chemistry of a group lends itself to socialization instead of education. This often times provided little class time and more out of class time with not all group members carrying their share of the work.
 * ||  ||   || I think that communication is a key with group work. Communicating the directions for the group work, providing examples, modeling, sending timely emails and reminders, and posting comments on “works in progress.” Never, ever assume everyone is “OK” with the project; make it your business to know where each participant is in the process.
 * ​ || One thing that I make sure to do is to give separate grades for indiviudal assignments given within the project. this takes a little more planning upfront, but this does help to make sure everyone participates. of course, their is always that one student who doesn't care-but at least the group grade does not suffer. Sally ||  ||   ||
 * Sara - The biggest issues that I have had ( both when I was part of the group & when I assigned groups for my students) is that not everyone works up to their potential or there was one person that wanted to "run the show". || Sara - When I was assigning the work, I have since given roles / tasks to students / groups. I then have had them rate one another just to get a feel for how they worked together. We have also been grouping students more by different means - multiple intelligences, strengths, choice, etc. - depending on the given assignment. || Sara -Online collaboration problems that I have seen involve only one or two of the collaborators know how to use the technology, so they end up doing all the work. In one situation I was in, the student that knew the technology rewrote everything the other student put together as she was typing the work into the technology. So, it was not that the other student did not do his share, but that he was overruled. Good thing he had his handwritten work so that I could address the issue. || Sara - provide a variety of tasks and choice to the assignments so that maybe one would match to the student more easily. Offer variety of ways in which to
 * The main problem I have found with face-to-face groups was making sure everyone did their fair share of the work. I have tried assigning roles, having students grade each others work or participation, but it seems that their is always that one student that just does not want to participate.
 * When I think back to my teaching days, placing students in groups in middle school was sometimes tricky. My main problem was that certain students did not get along with other students. They did not work well together. Girls can be very jealous creatures at this age. Then, I had the same problem as others--not everyone pulled their weight in the group.

When I think of my group work in college classes, I found it difficult to communicate with other group members (before the days of e-mail, wikis, blogs, etc.). Carolyn || I tried to group students whom I felt could work together to accomplish the task without causing difficulties for the group and myself. I had to monitor the students closely and nudge the students who did not participate fully. I always stressed careers to my students. I tried to get them to understand that once they are in the workforce, they must work in groups to complete tasks. Sometimes you won't enjoy working with some people, but you must do so to keep your job. Carolyn || <span style="color: #808000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In one online class I facilitated (Rubrics), we had to develop a rubric as a check-off to evaluate a rubric. Participants were to use this rubric to evaluate their final porject. We did this as a group posting to a blog. This was actually pretty successful. Many of the participants had never blogged before and this was great experience for them. The only isues I had were that some posted in the wrong place in the beginning, and some were reluctant to post. This was not an individually graded activity, but a part of a session. Carolyn || <span style="color: #3500ff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I realized that my directions were not stated clearly enough for some of the participants. I made a list of the steps neccessary for the participants to access the blog and post their thoughts. I also encouraged the reluctant participants to participate. After we got all the little kinks ironed out, we had fun with the blog and they had some great ideas to share. Carolyn || Irene || The first meeting I just tried to think what to do. The second meeting it was the same thing. I gave each member of his group a task and told them that each member had to talk before they could talk again. Irene ||  ||   ||
 * I was teaching a group of professionals. There was one loud-mouth who was so controlling and annoying.