Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Module 3: Assessing Collaborative Efforts



  • How should participation in a collaborative learning community be assessed? How do the varying levels of skill and knowledge students bring to a course affect the instructor's "fair and equitable assessment" of learning? 
  • If a student does not want to network or collaborate in a learning community for an online course, what should the other members of the learning community do? What role should the instructor play? What impact would this have on his or her assessment plan?

According to Palloff and Pratt (2005), it is best to assess collaboratively when assessing collaborative work and/or activities (p. 44).  I vividly remember a time in undergrad when we were given a group project to complete, and it turned out to be a horrible experience.  I was partnered with five students, two who were known for being lazy and not caring about their academics in the same way the rest of us did.  We split up the roles, and throughout the allotted time there was arguing and even refusal to participate.  When it came time to present I knew it was going to be a disaster, but all I could control was what I did.  We only received a group grade.  There was no individual assessment or peer assessment where we could have a voice about where the breakdown occurred.  “Students often have far more information about the workings of a small group than does the instructor” (Palloff & Pratt, 2005, p. 48).   Granted this was undergrad and we did not have all of the technology available today, it was still a frustrating experience.  I agree with Siemens in which instructors should not be the only assessor, but a group of learners should help assess each other in a peer manner using a rating scheme (Laureate Education, 2008).  The group could rate member’s performance, respond to open ended questions, or other various types of evaluating systems. The sole purpose of student assessment is for both students and instructor to gain feedback while supporting the learning process and student achievement (Palloff & Pratt, 2007, p. 206).

Learning environments contain students with varying levels of skill and knowledge.  Therefore, offering collaborative open communities are an easy way to provide students opportunities for natural feedback regardless of their level.  To encourage and motivate those students who have “less”, it is important for instructors to remember not all assessments should be a mark, but could be in the form of a comment (Laureate Education, 2008).  All assessment should be fair and consistent regardless of the student.   According to Siemens (2008), it is more valuable if the assessment is based on student growth, outcomes, and real context (Laureate Education).  Therefore, a low student who greatly increases in achievement since the first day should be highly recognized and rewarded.  Constant participation, even if not always correct should also receive recognition.  At least the student is making the attempt, and it could even be their way of seeking instruction, direction, or feedback.   

Guidelines should be arranged for those students who do not want to collaborate or network within their learning community.  Siemens feels it would assist instructors if they required groups to use a Wiki because it tracks how often students log on, and how much they contribute (Laureate Education, 2008). I experienced an issue last quarter in which I made numerous efforts to reach out to my group, and never received a response back.  I emailed my instructor letting him know of my attempts, where he could view them in Blackboard, and via our Wiki link (which I too created).  Piner (2013) agrees that after several attempts to contact the non-collaborative student, the group members should make the instructor aware of the situation (para. 4).  If this does occur within a group, all present members should continue working together on the given task.  The instructor should have set guidelines in the course introduction that explains the importance and expectations of online collaboration.  According to Palloff and Pratt (2007), it becomes the instructor’s responsibility to reach out to a member of a group if they are not participating, and remind them of the guidelines (p. 159).  The instructor will have to make changes to that group member’s assessment plan, and strongly encourage the student to begin participating wherever the group currently is.  I think points should be removed from their grade by the instructor, and guidelines for how it is determined should be included in the syllabus.

References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Assessment of Collaborative Learning. United          States: Walden University
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for    the virtual classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2005). Collaborating online: Learning together in community (pp. 3-    54). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Piner, J. (2013, July 2).  Module 3: Assessing collaborative efforts. [Web log post].
            Retrieved from, http://jenniferpiner.blog.com/
 

9 comments:

  1. Mary,

    True, instructors should not be the only assessors; learners should help assess each other. Palloff & Pratt (2003) listed this one element of assessing distance education students. The authors believed that there should be collaborative assessments through publicly posting papers along with comments from student to student. Introverted learners often become more extroverted after taking distance education courses because these activities. In short, even though distance education entails learner-centered assessment which involved self-reflection; there is also much interaction and collaboration in this learning mode. Do you think that an extroverted person will work well in a virtual team? Do you think feedback can become a problem for such a person? Especially if he or she is accustomed to working face-to-face?

    Reference

    Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2003). The virtual student: A profile and guide to working with online learners. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Ena

    My blog: http://ena-spoonfulofsugar.blogspot.com/2013_07_01_archive.html

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    1. I think an extroverted person would work well, if not flourish in a virtual team. Extroverts are very social people, and I believe they would quickly adapt to the distance learning scene. In my opinion extroverted people are flexible with what is presented to them. They take every opportunity they can to have some type of social interaction with people. Feedback is something else I do not see them having an issue with. I would think an introverted person would have more of the issues with virtual teams and feedback. Even if an extroverted person is accustomed to working face-to-face, their outgoing personality and ability to seek out situations will assist them.

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  2. Hi Mary,

    I am sorry to ”hear” about your experience in what was supposed to be a collaborative group project. The instructor and instructional designers should have focused on how to grade the work of the individual components of the project. Palloff and Pratt (2007) suggested that collaborative assignments be truly collaborative, which means that one person should not be able to complete the entire task by themselves. From the description you provided, the assignment did not sound collaborative at all. It sounded as a giant paper for the whole group to finish in parts. Given time, one person could have done it all. Heck, I think I would have starting charging for completing the work of others who were lagging behind. What would you have done differently to make the activity more collaborative?

    References

    Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities: Effective strategies for the virtual classroom. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Sanjay Sharma

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    Replies
    1. For the assignment we actually had to create a poster board display along with a paper/brochure. I feel there was only so much I could do to not only make the assignment more collaborative, but also make our group cooperate with each other. Even if I or another member completed the work for those who were lagging behind it still would not be fair since everyone received the same grade regardless. I think myself and some of the other group members should have tried talking to the instructor on a private basis. It may have helped it we expressed with the entire group how we all want to do well on this assignment, and the importance of coming together for it.

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  3. Hi Mary.

    Interesting blog post. Being in this program, I would make an assumption that most are fairly motivated to learn and do well. It's such a shame that at this level, students have to be prompted to participate. I was just speaking to my cousin's wife who is a professor of religion at a major midwestern university. She implemented a fully online course for the first time this past school year. One of her pleasant surprises was the level of interaction that students have since it is virtually (haha) impossible for them to hide or to exaggerate their participation. Just by virtue of the course design, there is maximum accountability for all students.

    Jeanna

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  4. Mary

    Great post and you brought out some very interesting points. I really like when you mentioned that group learners should assess each other. I have used that strategy with my students when they are working in groups and it works wonders when students know that they will be held accountable by their peers. I disagree with you a little when you mentioned that guidelines should be arranged for those students who don't want to collaborate. In my opinion when expectations are set at the beginning of the course the rules should not change because a student refuse to participate. To me that creates an outlet out of responsibility for the students when an alternative plan is needed because of lack of participation.

    William

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    1. I agree with you regarding the students that do not want to participate. What I meant by guidelines was students should be aware that "THIS" is going to happen if you do not participate within your group. There should be posted guidelines to make students knowledgeable of how points will be deducted from their grade if they are not collaborating.

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  5. I think you made the right effort and the right attempts in regards to your experience in the past. What do you think the instructor should do for a student who refuses to participate?

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    1. I personally feel there should already be guidelines in place within the university/program for how points/grades are handled with students who do not participate. After the instructor reaches out to the student there really isn't anything else that SHOULD be done. The student should be encouraged to begin participating immediately, or be given a zero for that assignment.

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