DESIGNING AND SUPPORTING ONLINE GROUPWORK

Ignite: D2L Regional User Forum | September 2013 | Guelph, ON

Dina Meunier

Melanie Misanchuk

Tonya Noël

Online Learning Consultants Centre for Extended Learning

What do you think of when you think about groupwork?

DM-2:35

Discussion Summary

POSITIVE THOUGHTS• Increased involvement• More authentic• More complex• Learner: Learner exchange of

ideas• Less marking• Necessary skill set (reality

check. Reflective of real life)

NEGATIVE THOUGHTS• Why do I have to do this?• I don’t like (hate) working with

people• Is there an alternate assignment?• Pushback about grades• Unrealistic• When I design groupwork,

students want to do it independently. When I design independent work students want to do it together.

Why bother?(Recap of the benefits of Groupwork)

Students• Encourages engagement and

retention• Increases cognitive presence

and cognitive outcomes• Promotes an essential skill• Motivating• Increases responsibility as a

self-directed learner• Encourages peer learning and

teaching

Instructors• Stimulates classroom

discussions and dynamics (?)• Reduces marking workload (?)• Permits the creation of more

complex assignments for students

• Prevents a limited number of topics to analyze from being an issue

DM-2:40

What are we talking about today?

• Groups vs. teams– Teams are more interdependent and usually

work longer term– Groups work more cooperatively whereas

teams are more collaborative

• Cooperation vs. collaboration• Work teams vs. learning teams

– “real-world experience” of teamwork

MM-2:45

Cooperation vs. CollaborationActivity Communication Cooperation Collaboration

Learning Information transmission

Knowledge transmission

Knowledge generation

Inquiry Individual inquiry Delegation of tasks

Common inquiry

Decision-making Agree to disagree Vote (majority rules)

Social negotiation to consensus

Goals/agendas Multiple goals/multiple agendas

One goal/multiple agendas

One goal/one agenda

Accountability Individual accountability

Individual accountability

Group accountability

Learning relationship

Complete independence

Partial interdependence

Complete interdependence

vs.

TN-2:50

Who does and doesn’t enjoy it?

vs.

Who does and doesn’t enjoy it?

vs.

TN-2:50

Who does and doesn’t enjoy it?

TN- 2:50

Who does and doesn’t enjoy it?

vs.

TN-2:50

Who does and doesn’t enjoy it?

Students in a class where groupwork activities are well designed

Students in a class where groupwork activities are poorly designed

Unlike the other examples, this is something we can control

TN-2:50

What strategies might you use when designing a groupwork activity for a

fully online course?

TN-2:55

Group up, introduce yourselves,

then share your answers(challenge: come up with 10 as a group)

e.g.• Ensure activities align with course objectives• Outline value of groupwork to students• Limit group size to 3-4

DM-3:10

Review and Critique our Checklist

MM-3:20

Some Notes about Tools

TN-3:25

Groupwork Activity

In your small groups, create a brief outline for an online group contract

Sample Items:• Timeline• Roles• ???

Group Contract Outline• Team names and contact

information• Methods of communication

(online, offline)• File formats• Methods for sharing files (virtual

space)• Expectations of all group

members• Frequency, time, location of

meetings• Roles of all members related to

assignment

• Assignment, course and personal goals

• Milestone & timelines• Review and re-work• Methods of decision making• Consequences for not meeting

expectations (1st time, 2nd time)• Providing peer feedback on

progress

ReferencesBart, M. (2010). How to design effective online groupwork activities. Faculty Focus. Retrieved from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/online-education/how-to-design-effective-online-group-work-activities/

Belbin, M. (2013). Belbin Team Roles. Retrieved 20 September, 2013 from http://www.belbin.com/rte.asp?id=3

Brounstein, M. (2002) Managing Teams For Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing.

Brown, V. (undated) A little bit me, a little bit you. Retrieved from http://www.belbin.com/content/page/6620/BELBIN%20-%20A%20little%20bit%20me%20a%20little%20bit%20you.pdf

Centre for Ed Development, Queen’s University, Belfast. (2013). Group Work. Retrieved from http://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/AcademicStudentAffairs/CentreforEducationalDevelopment/CurriculumDevelopment/ActiveLearningExamples/GroupWork/

Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario. Making Group Contracts. Retrieved from https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/developing-assignments/group-work/making-group-contracts

Delise, L.A. et.al. (2010). The effects of team training on team outcomes: A meta-analysis. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 22(4), 53-80.

Eberly Centre for Teaching Excellence and Innovation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh. What are the benefits of group work? Retrieved from http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/groupprojects/benefits.html

Fearon, C. et.al. (2012). Using student group work in higher education to emulate professional communities of practice. Education + Training, 54 (2/3), 114 – 125.

Graham, C. R., & Misanchuk, M. (2004). Computer-mediated teamwork: Benefits and challenges of using teamwork in online learning environments. In T. S. Roberts (Ed.), Online collaborative learning: Theory and practice (pp. 181-202). Hershey, PA: Idea Group.

ReferencesGrzeda, M. et.al. (2008). Team building in an online organizational behaviour course. Journal of Ed for Bus, 83(5), 275-281.

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., and Smith, K. (1991). Cooperative learning: Increasing college faculty instructional productivity (ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 4). Washington, DC: The George Washington University, School of Education and Human Development.

Misanchuk, & Anderson. (2001). Building Community in an Online Learning Environment – Communication, Cooperation and Collaboration. Annual Mid South Instructional Technology Conference (p.3). Murfreesboro, TN: ERIC Clearinghouse.

Kanuka, K. (2011). Interaction and the online distance classroom: Do the instructional methods effect the quality of interaction? J Comput High Educ, 23, 143-156.

Kuh, G.D. (2009). High Impact Educational Practices. Washington, D.C.: AAC&U.

Mandernach, J. (2013). Online Groupwork Checklist. Retrieved from http://gotoltc.edu/techexpo13/pdf/Online%20group%20work%20checklist.pdf

McMurray, A. (2013). PD3: Communication. Retrieved 19 September, 2013 from https://learn.uwaterloo.ca/d2l/le/content/38531/viewContent/499309/View

Paulus, T. (2004) Collaboration or cooperation? Small group interactions in a synchronous educational environment. In T. S. Roberts (Ed.), Online collaborative learning: Theory and practice (pp. 181-202). Hershey, PA: Idea Group.

Paulus, T. (2005) Collaborative and Cooperative Approaches to Online Group Work: The impact of task type. Distance Education (26)1 (pp.111-125).

Svinivki, M. & McKeachie, W.J. (2011). McKeachie’s Teaching Tips (13th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Taraban-Gordon, T. (2013) PD 8: Intercultural Skills. Retrieved 19 September, 2013 from https://learn.uwaterloo.ca/d2l/le/content/30803/viewContent/499062/View

DINA MEUNIER – d2meunier@uwaterloo.ca

MELANIE MISANCHUK – mmisanchuk@uwaterloo.ca

TONYA NOËL – tnoel@uwaterloo.ca

thanks for attending!