Group+3+Ensuring+Student+Accountability

How do we ensure accountability when students are working in groups?

I think that the concerns listed have been around since we have assigned students book reports. I can still remember being in Sr english and being the only one in the group to read the book.
 * Concerns || Solutions ||
 * Students may get a friend in the same to cover for them. How do you control that? || Use of peer & self-assessment worksheets will help students realize their accountability. ||
 * What if two students in the group do not like each other? || Do we always like people we have to work with? Real - life situation they can learn from now. ||
 * Do we want to choose groups, leave it to chance, or let students pick? || Use a variety of methods to group students. I usually start with students choosing their own partners, and then group partners to create a team. ||
 * How do we choose group leaders? || I allow the teams to brainstorm & discuss the project informally to see if a leader emerges before asking them the chose a leader. It is more successful if the team chooses their own leader. ||
 * What if someone in the group does not complete their work, or does not put in the same amount of effort as other members of the group? || Again... the use of peer & self assessment sheets will help the instructor to gain information about the efforts put forth from each student. The peer-assessment gives students the chance to discuss problems issues, while the self-assessment gives the student the chance to show the knowledge they gained. ||

Very valid concerns! I used to hate working in groups b/c I was always the one who did the most work. AND no one ever taught me how to deal with "slackers"...I was afraid they wouldn't like me if I made them work!