A web-based instrument captured quantitative and qualitative data during the first phase where instructors worked on their own and in the second phase where participants used a think aloud protocol while engaging in the same task. This mixed methods study asked instructors experienced in using group work to sequentially respond to weekly instalments of reflective journal entries representing a fictional member of a collaborative learning group working through a group project. This study investigated how instructors approach the task of diagnosing collaborative learning group dysfunction when presented with an opportunity and a request to do so.
These changes resulted in unexpected benefits as they enabled me to perform analytics on the captured responses resulting in a deeper sense of their progress and an ability to tailor my instruction to the student’ needs.
Although implementation required minimal technology support and was initially piloted using only a standarddiscussion board, I iterated through multiple rounds of software enhancements to improve ease of use and make it easier to provide quality feedback to my students. The increased engagement-which I wanted-required me to become comfortable with the reduced level of control. This lead to students trying to game the system, resulting in tension for me, the instructor, who had to remember that he welcomed these challenges to his authority into the classroom. The design solution was based upon the Buzzword Bingo game, a game designed to mock the catchphrases so common in the world of business, and some of the subversive nature of the gamecarried over into the classroom. The first step in addressing the issue was recognizing that my students had legitimate reasons for neglecting the assignments and that this was not a situation of me against them. This design case details my efforts as an instructor to combat the fact that my students were not completingassigned readings. The decisions in the next iteration will focus on implementation of the method and related research resulting in a product that is easier to work with. This prototype uncovered avenues for research and the second iteration begins my exploration of some of these questions while addressing weaknesses. Conflicting goals resulted in a functional prototype that would serve me for testing acceptance of the method and usefulness of the data, but the tool itself would not evolve further. While the tool was initially considered for summative assessment purposes, the result focuses on formative assessment capabilities.
The design of the method evolved rapidly as it met with the reality of the tool being developed to support it. As the sole designer and developer on this project, I found little distinction between design and development activities. Reported values are interdependent, meaning a low contribution from one member must be balanced by high contributions from others. The web-based tool reminds students via email to enter numbers or use sliders to represent effort. The method asks students involved in group projects to report the contributions of group members, including themselves, on a weekly basis. This design case details my efforts to design a method of equitably grading group work and addressing student concerns with respect to distribution of effort and, in tandem, to develop a tool that implements a substantial portion of that method. As an instructor employing group projects, my students and I have been frustrated by my inability to allocate credit for individuals’ contributions to a group’s projects.
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