Designing Group Work That Really Works

Larry K. Michaelsen, Ph.D., University of Central Missouri

WARNING: Group assignments often do more harm than good. The most common sign of trouble is when students—especially the better ones—feel they are doing more than their fair share of the work. When that happens, the real problem may not be with the students, but with what you are asking them to do.

In this session, participants will engage in activities that

• demonstrate why most problems with learning groups are caused by poorly designed assignments
• illustrate four keys for designing group assignments so that they
  • promote higher-level learning
  • consistently produce positive student attitudes about group work
  • can be graded easily and fairly.

Room 2.122