Online Group Projects

Currently most PolyU group projects consist of students producing a written report and presenting to the class during weeks 11-13. The projects in themselves are valuable, but the classroom presentations may be just one way of doing it. An option is to move the group/team projects online into a Wiki (see HTM2105 Wikibook) to utilize the technology and use the time more effectively. The assessment could then be done more anonymously and in a more valid way with marks allocated by students through peer assessment and also by the tutor.

If group projects are designed so that individual students are held accountable for their own performance, then students will be more likely to ‘buy’ into the group venture. Asking groups to participate in team self-evaluation provides group members with an additional element of autonomy, and may also promote the desire to become part of an actively working team.

Useful reading:

1. Encylopedia of Educational Technology http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/wikis/index.htm
2. Wide Open Spaces: Wikis http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm04/erm0452.asp?bhcp=1
3. 7 things you should know about Wikis http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf
4. Wiki Pedagogies http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI0626.pdf

What to do next