1. Quality Matters Conference October 2013 Dr. Joy Kutaka-Kennedy
Collaboration and Rigorous Assessment: Group Work with Individual Accountability
Quality Matters Conference
October 2013
Dr. Joy Kutaka-Kennedy

2. The Benefits Group work has many advantages For Learners For Teachers
Positive social interaction facilitates learning, memory and recall
Students develop social skills
Students often enjoy the activities more
For Teachers
Grading is streamlined with fewer papers to evaluate
The Benefits

3. The Problems Equal contributions Equitable work load
Hard working students will excel and put in great effort
Less motivated students will do the minimum to get by
Equitable work load
Hard working students will meet commitments
Less motivated students may fail commitments
Grade distribution
Both students often get the same grade, much to the chagrin of one and the delight of the other
The Problems

4. The Problem Exacerbated
Students who worked hard report feeling resentful of the students who were less motivated
This resentment may surface in social conflicts and hostility among students
The instructor may be called upon to mediate among unhappy students
Issues of fairness arise
The Problem Exacerbated

5. Some strategies to hold students accountable for their work and contributions include
Peer evaluations
Students evaluate each other’s work and contributions
Jigsawed work assignments
Students divide the tasks of the group project and commit to completing their assigned task
Jigsawed roles
One student might do the oral presentation, another the written paper, another the graphic presentation
Possible Solutions

6. Issues with Possible Solutions
Peer evaluations
Peer on peer evaluations can be colored by ties of friendship or emnity unrelated to performance
Jigsawed work assignments
Students with high standards don’t want their grade to suffer due to shoddy work done by less motivated or less capable students and will do it
Jigsawed role assignments
Students are graded on essentially different assignments which could compromise their learning
Issues with Possible Solutions

7. Online group work can be designed to hold all students accountable to doing their assignments to the same standard
The work of individual students can be assessed on their performance separate from the group project/product
Everyone learns and is held accountable for their work
An Online Solution

8. Threaded Discussion Format
In online education, the threaded discussion is often used as a platform to students to interact ASYNCHRONOUSLY
Students can log on 24/7 to
post a comment to a classmate,
upload their papers, and
receive feedback from peers/instructor
Chat sessions can be set up for synchronous interactions
Threaded Discussion Format

9. Assignment Instructions
Explicit instructions for the assignment are posted on the instructions page along with curricular resources (embedded videos, weblinks, etc)
Groups are set up on the instructions page so everyone knows which group to enter
Groups have their separate instructions on their tabbed access page
Assignment Instructions

10. Discussion and Interactions
Students “enter” their discussion room (the tabbed page) and begin uploading their work for others to comment on
Students read and comment on each other’s work
The date and time of each comment is logged on the discussion page
Instructors can track the dialogues
Discussion and Interactions

11. Instructors can see what, when, how much and what quality students are posting
Instructors can view the original postings and subsequent conversations and interactions for each student’s work
Using rubrics designed for the assignment, instructors can upload the rubric with commentary to each student’s gradebook
Grading

12. Questions?
Please feel free to contact me:
Dr. Joy Kutaka-Kennedy
National University
School of Education
Department of Special Education
Contact Information