So you've decided to use teamwork in your course. Here are 5 tips to help it go as smoothly as possible.1. Create teams by student availability or diversity of skills
If your class is in person or has realtime meetings where students can work together, create the teams yourself; don’t let students self-group. Diversify each team, and make the process transparent.
If students attend class "on-demand," let student sign up for times they can meet with a group and create groups based on this availability. This can help with the challenges of scheduling across time zones.
2. Create a role for each team member
Create clearly-defined and unique project roles for each team member, in which each can develop an area of expertise and authority.
3. Promote cohesion through gentle competition
Teams bond in the face of an external challenge. Provide teams a way to compete with, impress, or evaluate other teams.
4. Grade team and individual performance
Grade for a combination of team and individual performance, with transparent ways for measuring each. Use peer evaluation with a clearly-defined rubric for the individual component. This way if a team member doesn't contribute their share, the group has a way to let you know.
View a sample peer evaluation for groupwork adapted from Johns Hopkins.
5. Solicit Feedback
When it’s over, solicit feedback and look for patterns. Was the project equitable, or did it unintentionally favor certain kinds of learners? What might you do differently next time?
And 3 Pitfalls to Avoid
1. Unnecessary teamwork
Teamwork is great when part of your learning goal for a course is helping students learn to work together. But if this is not a goal, teamwork can be more of a hassle than a benefit.
Instead, consider asking students to brainstorm ideas as a team and then create individual deliverables. Or ask them to create individual work and then get feedback through peer review.
2. Unequal workload
Sometimes teams go poorly because some members under—or over—perform or they make assumptions about group member availability or technology use.
Ask students to create a group charter: How will you facilitate conversations, take notes, make decisions, resolve conflict, enforce member responsibilities? Encourage them to revisit this code at each meeting and update as needed. See sample a sample from Carnegie Mellon or one created here at Harvard Extension.
3. Groups that flounder
Sometimes groups have trouble getting off the ground. Ask teams to leave each meeting with clear to-do lists for each member.
Set timelines and early submissions (proposed topics, outlines, and drafts). This can flag potential problems so you can address them before they become big.