Let’s Look at... Assessing Group Performance 1

Performance Groups Material for this section largely adapted from: “Assessing group work” © Copyright 2002, AUTC. Does group work  encourage peer learning and replicate the teamwork expected in the real world of work OR  become the vehicle for squabbling and freeloading? Schools and teachers have historically valued the development of independent study habits and have oriented their students toward personal achievement. These students may perceive little value for their own learning in group activities, or may be frustrated by the need to confer with others. Students can also perceive group work as a tool used by a teacher primarily to reduce the teacher’s work load. If you decide to use group work as part of your instructional repertoire, include the technique effectively by using well thought out objectives and scoring systems. Target group performance work to special tasks; don’t overuse. A good start would be to pick a task that is worthwhile, feasible and best done, or only done, by a group. 2

How groups are forms is methods, here we will discuss... Assessing Performance in Grouped Tasks Getting the assessment right is critical. How to structure the assessment is focused around answers to four questions: whether what is to be assessed is the product of the group work, the process of the group work, or both (and if the latter, what proportion of each) what criteria will be used to assess the aspect(s) of group work of interest (and who will determine this criteria - teacher, students or both) who will apply the assessment criteria and determine marks (teacher, students - peer and/or self assessment or a combination) how will marks be distributed (shared group mark, group average, individually, combination) 3

#1 Assessing a Group Product... Teacher Assesses the Product and Decides Score Distribution Group members submit one product. Using a predetermined scoring rubric, the teacher assesses the product. All group members receive the same score, regardless of individual contribution. One product submitted and assessed, as above, and then the teacher uses “some mechanism” to adjust an individual’s score up or down based on the teacher’s assessment of that student’s contributions to the group. Mechanism needs to be clear to the students and perceived as fair. Each student in the group completes an allocated task that contributes to the final group product. Using a predetermined scoring rubric, the teacher assesses each task. Each student gets a score based only on the evaluation of their task. Each student is allocated individually scored tasks, as above, and then all group members receive an average of these scores for their final score. (Modification: all group members receive a total of these scores.) 4

#2 Assessing a Group Product... Both Teacher and Students Assess the Product Each student in the group completes an allocated task that contributes to the final group product. Using a predetermined scoring rubric, the teacher assesses each task. Then the task product is randomly distributed to another student in the class. Using the scoring rubric, the student assesses the product. Each student gets a final score based on the average of the teacher’s score and the score awarded by the classmate peer. 5

#3 Assessing a Group Product... Teacher Assesses the Product then the Group Decides Score Distribution Group members submit one product. Using a predetermined scoring rubric, the teacher assesses the product and tells the group their score. The students in the group then decide how to distribute the awarded score. For example, the product is scored 80 (out of a possible 100). There are four students in the group. We take the score times the number of students so there are 240 points to distribute to the four members. No one student can be given less than zero or more than 100. If students decide that they all contributed equally to the product then each member would receive a score of 80. If they decided that some made a bigger contribution, then those students might get 85 or 90 points and those who contributed less would get a lesser score. 6

#4 Assessing the Group Process... Examples of what might be assessed. Criteria for process, as appropriate to the subject and group work objectives, may include, for example: regular meeting attendance evidence of cooperative behavior appropriate time and task management application of creative problem solving in resolving difficulties appropriate level of engagement with task evidence of capacity to listen responsiveness to feedback/criticism whether and how leadership responsibilities were exercised 7

#5 Assessing the Group Process... Teacher Assesses the Group Process Using a predetermined scoring rubric, the teacher directly observes the group behaviors of each student. Each student is awarded a final score based on those observations. The teacher engages in direct observation, as above, and each student is individually scored. But the student’s final score is an average of all scores in the group. The group keeps written logs which document the content, dates, times, and durations of all group discussions and actions, to include student names. The teacher collects the logs with the final product and uses the logs with a predetermined scoring rubric to assess the contributions of individual students. 8

#6 Assessing the Group Process... Peers Assess the Group Process Students in a group individually evaluate each other's contribution using a predetermined list of criteria. The final score is an average of all scores awarded by members of the group. The teacher may or may not modify the scores awarded. Students individually evaluate their own contribution using predetermined criteria and award themselves a score. The teacher may or may not modify the scores awarded. 9

Some Final Thoughts on... Dealing with Group Work Personalities All groups have interpersonal dynamics. Some students find it difficult to retain focus and motivation because some members are preoccupied with their personal agendas. As teachers, it is sometimes useful to identify typical individual behaviors that emerge in groups and help the groups develop procedures to deal with the behavior. If groups fail to deal with these behaviors the work of the group, both the product and the process, is at risk. Not only will these negative feelings have a negative impact on this task, but the engendered feelings work to turn students against future group work. Howard Culbertson has created a fairly complete list of problem characters whose behaviors can damage work groups. What would you do about each? 10

Some Final Questions to Consider on... Performance Projects and Assessment Performance tasks, whether they be individual or group, have special questions to consider as we evaluate the products and processes associated with them, for example: How can I restructure the class period in order to give students time to work on the products? This time needed will expand if the projects involve group work. Is this taking away for important content I should be teaching? How can I restructure my class time so I can fairly assess both the process and the product. What will the rest of the class be doing while I am assessing the performance task (since, by the nature of these assessments, not everyone is “on stage” at once)? How can I be certain that tasks completed outside of my direct supervision were really done by the student? Certainly there is cheating on paper and pencil exams; but if work completed at home is a large percent of ones final score, I may be asking for trouble. 11