Inform students why you are having them work in groups and on this project in particular
The best way to get student buy-in is to share with students why you are having them work in groups. Some students may view group projects as busy work because they don’t see the point of it, especially if they feel as though they could do the entire project by themselves. The Transparency in Teaching and Learning (TILT) framework identifies sharing the purpose of an assignment as one of their three foundations of a transparent assignment. Here are some suggestions as to what to share with your students in order to get maximum buy-in.
- What are the skills they will practice and use when doing the project and how they will be transferable.
- How teamwork takes place in your discipline; professionals in your field must work in teams. Tell students that you are providing them with an experience that simulates professional practice.
- How this group project will allow students complete a more complex project than any individual student.
- Why the ability to work in a team is important. Share with them that employers are looking for college graduates who are able to work in teams (2023 AACU report) and that this is a part of the University’s student development outcomes. Their group work experience in your class will help them develop their teamwork skills.
- How research has shown that positive group work experiences can enhance student enjoyment of a course (Cavanagh, 2016).
Manage student expectations for their group project
How you introduce the group project to your students can affect their attitude towards the project. Some students may feel ambivalent or even have a negative reaction when the instructor announces a group project. Oftentimes, this is because they have had a prior negative experience with a group project, because they don’t fully understand the purpose of the current project, or they aren't sure how the project will benefit them in now or later. Understanding the causes of student resistance to teamwork helps us to address concerns and lay a foundation from which learners can to invest emotionally and academically in the project.
- Tell students on the first day of class (or before class) that they will be working on a group project. Include this information in the course syllabus. A syllabus statement is one way to do this.
- Elicit student attitudes towards group projects. You could ask them about their previous experiences in groupwork have been, both good and bad. This can take the form of an online or paper survey, small group discussions, or a whole class discussion. Be sure to ask students to share specific examples of the good and bad, and to suggest what they would change to convert something bad to something better. Collect and display the information you receive and use this to facilitate a conversation about what they would like from their fellow students and the instructor to ensure that their project will be successful.
- Be transparent. Ensure that you and your students share an understanding of what effective groupwork looks like and show them how the project fits into your course learning outcomes. Be sure to be transparent about the assignment's purpose, intended audience, and the tasks they will be required to complete along the way.
Generate excitement
A final way to build student commitment to the group project is to get them excited about it. There a few ways in which this could be done.
- Showcase excellent work from past student projects. This can pique students’ interest as well as inspire them.
- Build in an element or two of choice. As previously mentioned, allowing students to choose the audience for their project or the form of the final product.
- Have previous students comment on their experience working with their group on this project. This could be conveyed live with a question and answer session or with recorded videos.
Resources
- 2023 AACU report - The Career-Ready Graduate: What Employers Say about the Difference College Makes
- Activities to “sell” cooperative learning to your students
- Teamwork and Student Learning Outcomes by Campus
- TILT Higher Ed. (n.d.). Transparency in learning and teaching. https://www.tilthighered.com
References
Cavanagh, A. J., Aragón, O. R., Chen, X., Couch, B. A., Durham, M. F., Bobrownicki, A., Hanauer, D. I., & Graham, M. J. (2016). Student Buy-In to Active Learning in a College Science Course. CBE Life Sciences Education, 15(4), ar76. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.16-07-0212
Seidel, S.B., Tanner, K. D. What if students revolt? Considering student resistance: Origins, options, and opportunities for investigation.CBE-Life Sciences Education, 12, 586 - 595 (2013).