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Assessing Group Work

Instructional Challenge

Based on the article Walker, Charles J. “Assessing group process: Using classroom assessment to build autonomous learning teams.” Assessment Update 7(6) 1-2.

Group-based learning can yield high-quality and deeper learning when the group performs well. When groups fail to work well together, the results can be troubling and quickly consume an instructor’s time trying to get them back on track. These differences in group performance are more likely to be caused by differences in group processes — how groups work — than by differences in talent or achievement among individual members (Walker 1). In preparing for group work, most instructors would rather focus on setting up groups for success than intervening when things go wrong. It is equally true that it is challenging to predict which groups will succeed and which will fail, as students in groups don’t often know there are problems until it is too late. The best approach is to help students build effective and autonomous teams and to build systems that help instructors monitor groups to detect problems early in the process. The process described here is called the Group Process Assessment Technique (GPAT).

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Keywords:
assessment, group work
Doc ID:
104586
Owned by:
Timmo D. in Instructional Resources
Created:
2020-08-03
Updated:
2024-08-23
Sites:
Center for Teaching, Learning & Mentoring