CELT Teaching Tip • October 17, 2019
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5 ideas to
change the refrain of "I hate group work" to “what great group experiences!”
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Many of us have heard student feedback about the utter disdain for group work. However, we know from the teaching and learning literature that groups, indeed diverse groups, contribute more innovative ideas than individuals working alone. So why is group work so disparaged?
A part of it may be the design of the group work. Without careful planning and facilitation, group work can frustrate students and instructors and feel like a waste of time. Use these suggestions to change the refrain of "I hate group work" to “what great group experiences!”:
- Share your rationale for using group work. Don't assume that students know what the purpose is. Explicitly connect these activities to larger class themes, and learning outcomes whenever possible.
- Group roles. Ask students to determine before a group project the roles that each student will play. The group members working individually and then collaboratively can create job descriptions that explain what they are doing to contribute to the group. If roles are clearly defined, this will allow for greater accountability, as well as appealing to students’ desire for real-world applications of learning. Download the Sample Group Work Project Checklist (docx).
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- Community building. Devote a segment during class for groups to interact, define group norms, and explore potential challenges. Encourage this process through guided questions such as, “I would describe my communication style as...” “A successful project would be...” or "Common pitfalls for our timeline and planning, includes..." Request students to share their group norms and roles with you.
- Checkpoints. Separate projects into multiple "checkpoints" to present opportunities for individual learning and reflection before having students submit in their final project(s). Start the term with a low stakes project to motivate students’ engagement in group work and encourage their progress. By pooling their resources and dealing with differences of opinion that arise, groups of students can develop a more sophisticated product than they could as individuals. This is in line with making projects sufficiently complex so that students must draw on each other’s knowledge and skills.
- Provide individualized accountability. Dr. Rebecca Cademartiri (Materials Science and Engineering) shares a Canvas Peer Review workaround to ensure students provide quality feedback to each other. To begin, set up two assignments in Canvas. The first assignment is worth zero points, requires the Peer Review option selected (see peer review assignment web guide), and assigns peer reviewers automatically (view automatically assign peers web guide). The second, no-submission assignment serves to grade peer reviewers. After scanning the reviewers' feedback on the first assignment (view student peer review comments web guide), utilize the second assignment to enter the grades for all peer reviewers. This approach will help students discover how to give valuable feedback, and reading each other’s writing will vastly improve their work before you even grade it. To see a demonstration of this, view Cademartiri's presentation via the CELT Online Learning Community meeting video (start at 1:12:00).
We hope you consider these suggestions to help implement group work successfully in your course.
With a joy for teaching,
Sara Marcketti, Director
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching
References:
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CELT Faculty Spotlight:
Brad Schrader
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In our teaching tips, we are highlighting the work of successful instructors and staff from across Iowa State University. We have asked them to share their highlights from the classroom, ideas for successful teaching and learning, and share their favorite CELT program.
Brad Shrader, a Morrill Professor and Eucher Fellow in Business, arrived at Iowa State University in 1984. Dr. Shrader teaches using discussion-based learning, case teaching, and case competitions. Cases are a fantastic way to involve students in discussions and to provide examples of complex concepts. Case discussion leads to discoveries, not only in teaching but also can be a form of scholarly research for presentations and publications, as well as student opportunities in external case competitions. The Ivy College of Business developed an internal case competition that serves as the integrative exercise for our resident MBA core curriculum.
What CELT program, resource, or grant would you recommend and why? Miller Grants. I was fortunate to receive Miller grants dealing with student involvement in collaborative learning. Over the years, our college has implemented many of the activities supported by these grants.
The upcoming deadline for Miller Faculty Fellowship proposals for the 2020-21 academic year is Monday, Dec. 9.
Program and application details
are online. Questions may be directed to CELT,
[email protected]
.
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Register for the 'Improving Your Online Course' Quality Matters
(QM) Workshop,
Nov. 6 (9 a.m.-Noon)
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Participants will explore the QM Rubric and essential Specific Review Standards to provide a framework for enhancing the quality of their online courses. Participants are required to have a pre-developed online course to develop their course improvement action plan. Register through
Learn@ISU website, or email
[email protected]. Learn more on
CELT's QM at Iowa State University webpage.
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Learning Online: Canvas and Beyond
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Using groups effectively in Canvas
Review these tips to help you and your students make the most out of Canvas Groups (click on the hyperlinks to open how-to web guides
).
- Create a new group set any time you need to shuffle group membership. This ensures students will always maintain access to their previous submissions.
- Edit your groups to have unique names along with the course identifier (e.g., “MIS 233: Group 1”). This step may minimize confusion for students assigned to a 'Group 1' in a different Canvas course.
- Decide whether you will allow students to create their groups.
- Determine if you will assign students to groups automatically, or manually. Check the group membership frequently throughout periods of enrollment.
- Filter your gradebook by groups for efficient course management.
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Need help? Or assistance with your gradebook?
Stop by our CELT Open Labs. Visit
CELT’s Canvas Open Labs webpage for days, times, and location or contact Canvas 24/7 support by clicking on the ?Help icon on the Global Navigation menu (far left of your screen) in Canvas for the 24/7 support options.
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Professional Development Opportunities
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Proposals Sought for the 2020
Iowa State Conference on Race & Ethnicity (ISCORE), due Dec. 2
ISCORE welcomes proposals on race and ethnicity for the March 6 full-day event or the professional development pre-conference on March 4.
Submit proposals online by Dec. 2 via this
ISCORE Proposal Submission form
or the button below.
Notification and acceptance will be sent by Dec. 18.
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Register for an Upcoming Green Dot Bystander Training
This training is designed with the bystander lens as the framework and answers the question, "What does the participant need to know to increase the likelihood of effective proactive and reactive bystander interventions in response to power-based personal violence?"
Register to attend the fall semester Green Dot Trainings for Faculty and Staff:
Nov. 20 (9 a.m.-Noon), or Dec. 11 (
1:10-4 p.m.)
via the
Learn@ISU website
. Search for Green Dot.
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Announcing: Sloss Center hosts Feminist Writing Collective
Thursdays from 9-11 a.m. at the
Sloss Center
The group welcomes writers from any discipline engaged in scholarship that emphasizes feminist approaches and/or approaches drawn from gender and sexuality studies, critical race and ethnic studies, cultural studies, disability studies, and/or related areas of scholarship. Meetups are when members can gather, engage in focused writing time, and give/receive feedback on writing projects
. Questions?
email
[email protected]
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Apply to be a TEDxIowaStateUniversity 2020 Speaker, due Nov. 1
We seek thought-leaders who want to start conversations, make connections, and empower the community. The
TEDx IowaStateUniversity Chapter
focuses on spreading the ideas of science, technology, and human creativity, in hopes of creating a more inclusive and equitable society. Apply to be a TEDx Speaker today, via the
TEDx Application Form
or the button below.
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Join us at the Top Hat Seminar Series, Nov. 7
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- Seminar, Service-Learning Teaching and Learning Community, Oct. 23 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)
- Workshop, Navigating controversial topics in the classroom, Oct. 29 (4:10-5 p.m.)
- Initiative Opens, #CyThx at Iowa State University (Nov. 1-30)
- Seminar, Discuss Published Education Research in Your Discipline, Nov. 4 (4:10-5 p.m.)
- Workshop: Improving Your Online Course, Nov 6 (9 a.m.-Noon)
- Top Hat Seminar Series, Nov. 7:
- Introduction to Top Hat, (9-10:30 a.m.),
- Top Hat experts at ISU (11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.),
- Building an advanced Top Hat course (3-4:30 p.m.)
- Workshop, Documenting Your Teaching using the DART Matrix, Nov. 12 (2:10-3 p.m.)
- Workshop, Exploring ways to create an inclusive learning environment, Nov. 12 (4:10-5 p.m.)
- Workshop, Effectively managing disruptive conduct in learning spaces, Nov. 14 (12:10-1 p.m.)
- Seminar, ISU Online Learning Community (ISU-OLC) , Nov. 15 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)
- Workshop, Discover the top 10 tips for creating accessible course content, Nov. 19 (4:10-5 p.m.)
- Seminar, Service-Learning Teaching and Learning Community, Nov. 20 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.)
- Meeting, Team-Based Learning (TBL) Teaching and Learning Community, Nov. 22 (1:10-2:30 p.m.)
How to Register
For in-person events, register via the
Learn@ISU
website,
or email your name, department, name of the event, date of the event to
[email protected]
.
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