“Every professor teaching online should consider team projects for his or her classes.”
— Edward Volchoc (2006)
Group projects open the door for students to tackle more complex and intriguing problems than they could manage alone. Not only do they allow for deeper learning, but they also provide essential practice in teamwork—skills like running meetings, delegating tasks, brainstorming ideas, resolving conflicts, managing deadlines, and more. In online courses, group projects have two added benefits: helping students connect with one another which can combat feelings of isolation, and simulating the experience of working in distributed teams—a valuable skill in today’s increasingly remote workforce.
However, group projects aren’t without their challenges. Poorly designed group projects can lead to frustrations that sap students’ motivation and hinder their performance. To help you design and manage group projects that are both effective and enjoyable, here are some practical tips.
Tips for Creating Your Group Project
- Plan Group Formation and Membership Changes
- Carefully consider how you’ll form groups to align with your learning goals and decide how you’ll handle situations like students dropping the course or requesting a change of group.
- Emphasize the Importance of Group Work
- Continually highlight the real-world benefits of the skills students will gain from group work. Emphasize the added value of learning to collaborate on geographically distributed teams.
- Begin the Course With Team-Building Activities
- Give teams the opportunity to get to know each other before diving into the main project. Consider using low-stakes tasks or icebreaker activities early on to help students build a team identity and start collaborating effectively.
- Discuss Common Teamwork Challenges
- Take time to discuss or role-play common teamwork problems, like dealing with a dominant team member or a teammate who doesn’t contribute fully. Brainstorm strategies for overcoming these issues.
- Establish Team Contracts
- Have teams create a contract that outlines each member’s responsibilities, including communication, meeting attendance, and respectful exchange of ideas. Provide a template that they can customize.
- Assign or Suggest Roles
- Assign a team leader or let groups choose their own. Leaders can facilitate discussions and ensure project deliverables are submitted on time. Consider defining other roles as well to ensure all tasks are covered.
- Require Activity Logs
- Ask students to log their contributions to the project. This helps you monitor group activity and allows students to track their own progress.
- Provide Collaboration Tools
- Encourage the use of tools for collaboration within your learning management system (LMS) or external tools like Zoom, Teams, or Google Hangouts for both synchronous and asynchronous communication.
- Be Accessible
- Make yourself available to student groups for quick assistance. Regularly check discussion boards or chat tools, hold office hours, and respond promptly to emails.
- Include Reflection Opportunities
- Assign tasks that prompt students to reflect on what they’ve learned from working in groups. This could be done through a discussion board or a reflective assignment.
- Assess Both Individual and Group Performance
- In addition to evaluating the group’s final product, ask individuals to submit a summary or take a test. This fosters accountability and discourages nonparticipation.
Learning Management System Tools for Group Projects
- Group Sites: Utilize LMS group-specific sites for posting relevant documents, managing deliverables, and facilitating discussions. Students can use group discussion boards to talk about their project, log contributions, and update the project status. You can visit these discussion boards to monitor group dynamics and gauge progress.
- Chat Tools: Enable synchronous communication among group members and allow for them to record conversations for those who may need to catch up later.
- Web Conferencing Tools: Use these for virtual meetings where participants can share screens, documents, and collaborate in real time.
Examples of Online Group Projects
Online Nursing Course
In a semester-long project, groups are tasked with formulating a diagnosis and treatment plan for a fictional patient. The instructor reveals physical, psychological, and behavioral information about the patient in stages through an unfolding case study. Groups communicate with one another asynchronously through a group discussion board and synchronously through a chat tool as they discuss the case. They synthesize their discussion and log their evolving diagnosis and treatment plan on a discussion board. The instructor checks this board regularly to monitor team progress and provide feedback. At the end of the project, students present their final diagnosis and treatment to the class via PowerPoint, and their classmates submit questions for the presenting group to answer.
Online Marketing Course
Students work in groups to create a social media marketing strategy for a nonprofit. Groups are responsible for researching the company and its current marketing efforts, scheduling interviews with company leaders to gather information and developing a professional-quality marketing plan, drawing on the concepts they’ve learned from the course. Students communicate with one another via group discussion boards and a chat tool and with company representatives via Skype or phone. They log the contributions of each teammate on a designated discussion board, which the instructor monitors. The instructor provides feedback on the team discussion board and through scheduled biweekly meetings via web conferencing. Groups deliver their presentation to their clients via a web conferencing tool or another digital tool compatible with the client’s system.
Online Web Applications Course
Students work in teams on a semester-long project to build an app for an outside client. The instructor forms teams randomly in the first week of the semester. During this week, student groups must compete in a scavenger hunt in which they must find and document various kinds of apps indicated in a typology that the instructor provides. The scavenger hunt gives groups the chance to bond through friendly competition with other teams while also learning material relevant to the course. Then, with a foundation of team cohesion laid, teams begin to meet with their outside clients to clarify the needs and required functionality for the app they are building. The instructor meets with each team biweekly to provide feedback. The instructor also collects interim deliverables to ensure that teams stay on pace. At the end of the semester, students present their apps to their clients for feedback.
Tips for Facilitating Successful Student Interaction
- Have students introduce themselves, exchange contact information, and set expectations for communication and meeting agendas.
- Encourage the identification and utilization of each member’s strengths, establish clear roles, and define decision-making processes.
- Have groups set a clear agenda for group meetings and also establish what each group member needs to prepare before each meeting.
- Have groups decide how often they will communicate and through which medium.
- Emphasize the importance of prompt communication and active participation to maintain group momentum.
- Have groups decide how the team will make decisions (e.g., voting or consensus).
- Have groups leave every meeting with action items clearly defined and delegated.
- Have groups decide how they will respond to teammates who don’t contribute.
- Remind team members to check their group communication tools and respond promptly.
Group projects are more than just an assignment; they’re an opportunity for students to learn from each other and develop critical skills. By setting clear expectations, providing the right tools, and offering support along the way, you can help ensure that your students not only succeed in their projects but also enjoy the process.
References
Volchok, E. (2006, July). Building better virtual teams. Retrieved from http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=1165339
