Aug 23, 2017 · 1 min read
One thing I like about the idea of natural versus forced collaboration (letting students choose who, how many, or if they work with others) is that it could eliminate one of the perpetual problems with traditional group work in schools — assessment. My students are often concerned about how grading will work on a group project, worried that their grades might not reflect their own work or knowledge fairly. If students can always choose to collaborate or not, and who they collaborate with (people they know and trust, as you suggested), will they be less concerned about credit? Will it be more fair to give everyone in a group the same assessment? I think I’ll try this with some groups projects in my classes this year.