the way this is usually done is to assign everyone the same grade ... and
THERE is the rub
i am totally surprised that it has taken you 20 years to encounter this
problem ... i would say you have been a mighty LUCKY person!
we have to distinguish between the goal of the group project ... and the
grade given to the members of the group ... why is it that the assumption
seems to be that all get the same grade? i don't see any necessary
connection between one and the other
the typical pattern in a group ... when all are given the same grade ... is
for one or more to pick up the slack of one or more who, don't feel they
need a B or A on this component of a course ... so, we have a "pick up the
slack" group activity ...
this assumes of course that most of the group wants to do well ... but, if
none of the group really cares that much ... then, there will be no picking
up the slack
i think the best compromise is to try to determine the value of each
member's contribution ... and weight that most ... but, then give some
overall grade to the full project ... and give that somewhat less weight
... and keep these two separate ...
by the way, what IS the main reason for having students work in groups?
1. impossible to get al the projects done that the instructor wants
assigning them to individuals?
2. it is the training on a cooperative effort to get a task done that,
would be difficult to do alone?
3. it is the cooperative effort that will make the overall results
(product) BETTER than if a person did it alone?
i have been puzzled often at what the real goals are for assigning group
projects ... and for sure, there is WIDE variation across disciplines for
doing this ...
At 10:18 AM 4/24/01 -0500, EAKIN MARK E wrote:
>I have been assigning group projects for about 20 years and have lucky
>enough (until this semester) to have few students complaints about their
>fellow groups members. This semester I have many, many problems with
>groups complaining about members not carrying their fair share.
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