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Michael Meagher, Health Studies Faculty

Moving the Group Project to a

Collaborative Assignment in a

Remote Learning Environment

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Welcome!

(Remember to record, Michael!)

  • Introductions in the Chat
    • Share your name
    • Share the subject you teach / where you are in PCC-land
    • Share where you fall on this spectrum w/r/t using some sort of group/collaborative assignment in your class

No way! Never!

Can only think of the barriers

Thinking about it

Beginning to

use it

Already there using it successfully

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“Engaging the Group Learner: Collaborative Classroom Structures That Work”

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- Thomas M. Songer

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Aims of this session

  • Share a few general philosophies
  • Share a model that I use in my remote class
    • Share some of the behind-the-scenes set-up
  • Share a few end results

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Vocabulary used and the thought behind them

  • Reflect upon your past experiences with “group projects”

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  • Everyone on the team is doing the same work on the same topic
  • Student’s grade is not dependent on others

Akin to “Parallel Play”

Group Project

Collaborative Assignment

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(Slide from my lesson)

  • To Collaborate:
    • 1: to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor
      • An international team of scientists collaborated on the study.

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https://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/collaborate

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Where I see the responsibility

  • Set the process in a clear and organized manner
    • Including designated class time
  • Provide opportunities for students to have options
  • Do not perpetuate the negative ‘group project’ experience
  • Address the course outcome
    • “Explore information from credible research on stress and health.”
  • Note!
    • Nothing about presentation skills
    • Nothing about ability to build beautiful Google Slides
    • Nothing about working with difficult people

On me

On the student

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General timeline

  • Note!
    • Yes! There is a small blurb in the Syllabus plus the point-distribution table
    • Yes! There is a module in 'Content' with a lot of information.

Week 4

Week 5

Weekend between Week 5 and Week 6

Weeks 6 – 9

Week 10

  • 15-minute overview really introducing the assignment

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  • Students complete the Collaborative Assignment Topic Preference Google Form
  • Attempt to get responses from students who didn't complete the Topic Preference form
  • Teams are built
  • Designated Collaborative Assignment class time

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  • Suggested timeline provided
  • Collaborative Assignment Sharing Day

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Week 4

15-minute overview really introducing the assignment

Students complete the Collaborative Assignment Topic Preference Google Form

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Week 4 – 15 minute overview

Topic

- Include ‘Something Extra’ agreed upon with Michael

Student 1

Their own Peer-reviewed article

Eight question response

Collaborative Assignment Sharing Day

Self-Evaluation

Student 2

Their own Peer-reviewed article

Eight question response

Collaborative Assignment Sharing Day

Self-Evaluation

Student 3

Student 4

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Week 4 - Topic Preference Google Form

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Weeks 6 – 9

  • Designated Collaborative Assignment class time
  • I provide a suggested timeline
  • Each group has their own Google Document with everything they need

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Weeks 6 – 9

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Week 10 - Collaborative Assignment Sharing Day

  • Three examples of the end-product
    • (These aren’t linked)

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Takeaways

  • Which course outcome would work best for a collaborative assignment?
  • What are the perceived barriers (real or imagined)?
  • What behind-the-scenes preparation would help?
  • Where are the opportunities for students to have options?
  • How can we make the experience positive for students?

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Thank you for your participation.

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Please complete the session evaluation by using the link.