April 14, 2006
Group Discussion in Online Courses
Group Discussion in Online Statistics Courses
By Michelle Everson, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota
Small group work is something we often struggle with in our MVCR courses. Some students question the value of group work. Some students do not like being dependent on group members to complete an assignment. Some students feel the assessment of group assignments is unfair.
Despite these obstacles, we continue to use group work in our online courses. According to Barbara Gross Davis, researchers report that, regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats.
Michelle Everson, Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, has published a good case study of using small group work in an online course.
Everson has provides several suggestions for designing successful group work, inlcuding the following:
Create lecture notes based on the group discussions.Incorporate opportunities for students to brainstorm and apply what they are learning.
Provide ample time for students to complete group assignments.
Do not use peer-grading to assess each student's overall discussion grade.
Instructors should be visible in the group discussions, rather than be behind the scenes moderator role.
Posted by mlindema at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)