Unequal effort
Both design of groupwork tasks and assessment can help to minimise the problem of unequal effort. Peer assessment enables students to themselves address this concern. Peer assessment can also be used formatively to highlight what students are doing well or need to improve as well as summatively for the final mark. A fully automated peer assessment system, SPARK, is being trialled in the Faculty.
'Free-riders', ‘passengers’ or ‘social loafers’
Observe group interactions and hand-in work to monitor contributions of individuals. If it appears that one student is not contributing equally to the groups’ contributions, consider the following options.
Speak to the student privately to determine the reason for lack of participation e.g. introversion, fear of looking stupid, feeling unprepared, fearing a trap, feeling unwelcome, past experiences, lack of reward, trying to be cool.
Offer a general reminder that every student has valuable contributions, either to the whole class or one group in particular.
If students are shy consider including an electronic discussion. Students may feel more comfortable contributing if they have time to think about how to express an idea – especially if not from English speaking background.
Ask students to hand in their group-work notes or preparation, so as to make free-riders more accountable.
Use smaller groups so that there is less opportunity for free-riding. Often students will feel more comfortable to contribute in smaller groups.
Plan a task so that it can be equitably divided between the number of members in a group.
Include peer-assessment so that team members can identify any free-rider. Make it clear how the peer-assessment will impact on the final result for the task (see the page 'Assessing self & peers').
Include an assessable presentation component in the assignment in which all students have to speak, and in which questions can be directed to any group member about the project.
Sub-standard work
Sub-standard work may be attributable to misunderstandings or miscommunication between group-members. To help avoid this problem have students agree amongst themselves what is considered ‘acceptable work’. This can be done in early group meetings, and reinforced as the task progresses. See the page on Supporting Groups.
Tips on managing unequal effort
Try to minimise the problem in advance by considering peer assessment so that marks are distributed.
Regularly encourage students to express any concerns about group progress and dynamics early. The lecturer/tutor can often realistically assist early in the process. Trying to fix problems close to, or after, handing-in assessable work is much more difficult.
Require students to keep records of their meetings: who attended, who sent apologies, the work contributed by each at meetings, preparation done by each member. Ask to see these if problems arise.