{"id":123,"date":"2018-08-03T12:22:50","date_gmt":"2018-08-03T12:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/?p=123"},"modified":"2019-02-13T09:42:08","modified_gmt":"2019-02-13T09:42:08","slug":"finden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/2018\/08\/03\/finden\/","title":{"rendered":"Using group work in a large module for summative assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Instructor: James Findon, IoPPN<br \/>\nModule: Addressing Problems, Level 4<br \/>\nAssessment type:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Summative group poster\u00a0(semester one 35%)<\/li>\n<li>Summative\u00a0group presentation delivered in\u00a0a format of the group\u2019s choice (semester two\u00a035%)<\/li>\n<li>Individual reflective commentary\u00a0on the group work (30%)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Why did you introduce the assessment?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>The assessment is a core part of the\u00a0<i>Addressing P<\/i><i>roblems<\/i>\u00a0module, which runs over two semesters. The module itself was introduced to ensure that there was\u00a0a practical element which supports the learning of content in other modules.\u00a0The module consists of one initial lecture and 1 hour seminars\u00a0each week\u00a0over both semesters leading to the final assessments.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0module learning outcomes\u00a0address real world practices of working in groups and teams, being judged as a group in the world of work and being able to negotiate the rules and roles within a team.<\/p>\n<p>At level 4, the majority of assessment is through exams,\u00a0but the Addressing Problems module prepares students for group work and coursework that will take place in levels 5 and 6.<\/p>\n<h3><b>How did you design the assessment criteria and weighting?<\/b><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Semester\u00a01:\u00a0students\u00a0produce a poster in groups to address a problem which is assigned to them. The group then presents their ideas in the form of a poster &#8211; 35%\u00a0of module<\/p>\n<p>Semester\u00a02\u00a0\u2013 students form different\u00a0groups to\u00a0address a new problem\u00a0and the group presents their ideas in a presentation\u00a0format (they can use a\u00a0PPT or anything else e.g. video) 35%<\/p>\n<p>Students are given a group grade based on the <strong>final product<\/strong> which is assessed through\u00a0criteria.\u00a0\u00a0<b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>Students are assigned a group grade so all students in the group obtain the same grade. However, an individual student cannot get a higher grade than their level of attendance. For example, if a group obtains a grade of 70% and one individual member\u2019s attendance is only 60%, that individual cannot obtain higher than 60%.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The process\u00a0of group work\u00a0is assessed through a reflective commentary-\u00a0\u00a030%\u00a0. This is assessed through different\u00a0criteria.<\/p>\n<h3><b>How did you give feedback<\/b><b>\u00a0and provide formative practice<\/b><b>?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>In the week prior to the\u00a0before\u00a0assessment in the final session of both semesters, groups have the opportunity to\u00a0present\u00a0their poster\/presentation\u00a0to their GTA\u00a0as a\u00a0dry run. They obtain feedback\u00a0as a group.\u00a0\u00a0This\u00a0opportunity\u00a0is flagged at the beginning\u00a0of the semester\u00a0so students know how they will get feedback.\u00a0Because this formative assessment\u00a0is as close to the real summative assessment as possible, most students will take the opportunity because they should be close to completing the work on their presentation\/poster.<\/p>\n<p>The whole process is\u00a0scaffolded\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0GTA\u00a0throughout the module,\u00a0so\u00a0groups get lots of help in class. The GTA can see how the groups are progressing and guide them on track.<\/p>\n<h3><b>How did you explain this to students?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>The module is designed to allow students to practically apply the content in other modules to a real-world situation. This\u00a0rationale is emphasised to students\u00a0throughout the course and in the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/files\/2018\/08\/Module-Guide-AddProb-2018-2019.pdf\">Module Guide <\/a>\u00a0because it is a core objective of the module. The inevitability of group work in the world of work is emphasized to students,\u00a0and therefore finding ways to deal with its challenges is part of the module assessment.<\/p>\n<p>Students are provided an <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/files\/2018\/08\/Assessment-Brief-AddProb-2018-2019.pdf\">Assessment Brief .<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Students can discuss issues with the course leader and GTA at\u00a0any point throughout the module. However, at the beginning of the module, students explicitly discuss\u00a0in class\u00a0what factors make good group work.\u00a0They are told to set up a tools for communication e.g. WhatsApp\u00a0and OneDrive. They allocate roles which play to individual strengths and establish a list of rules or contract for their groups.\u00a0 In their individual\u00a0reflective commentary, they reflect on this- what worked and didn\u2019t,\u00a0and how\u00a0what they have learned can\u00a0feed forward into future group\u00a0work.<\/p>\n<h3><b>What benefits did you see?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Students gain confidence in groups work and\u00a0the experience\u00a0changes\u00a0their\u00a0expectations of group work. This can be seen in their experiences in future modules where group work is required and\u00a0is more high-stakes.<\/li>\n<li>Students also gain confidence in presenting\u00a0their\u00a0own work to an audience through an appropriate academic discourse.<\/li>\n<li>Students apply content\u00a0of the programme\u00a0in a real way to address a real world problem. This is authentic, and the reason many students sign up to a psychology degree,\u00a0so\u00a0is\u00a0inherently engaging.<\/li>\n<li>The module consistently receives good feedback and comments indicate confidence and a reduction in stress around group work.<\/li>\n<li>Students have to understand a range of\u00a0content from other modules in order to gain a high score in this module. This allows for a wider range of skills and <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/files\/2018\/08\/Learning-Outcomes-AddProb-2018-2019.pdf\">Learning Outcomes\u00a0<\/a>to be practised and assessed\u00a0across the programme so combats the problems associated with modularisation where students cannot see links between content and topics.<\/li>\n<li>There is no real additional pressures on\u00a0teacher\u00a0workload as much of the preparation takes place in class and group grading reduces the need to work out individual contribution.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3><b>\u00a0What challenges did you face and how did you address them?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><em><strong>Reflective writing: The module has been\u00a0running for two years and it became clear that students were struggling with the reflection aspect.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px\">A seminar given by the GTA was introduced,\u00a0which inducted students into the basics of reflective writing. Exemplars were used, so more guides and scaffolds allowed the students to understand the purpose and conventions of reflective writing.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Group work: It was noted that groups did not always come prepared with content understanding if they had not attended the lectures. In addition, groups did not always bond well initially.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>MCQ questionnaires were introduced at the beginning of each of the first five sessions in term 1. This was done individually and then again in groups through a <a href=\"https:\/\/eic.rsc.org\/feature\/scratching-the-surface-of-team-based-learning\/3007103.article\">Scratch and Solve<\/a> type activity<b>.<\/b>\u00a0Students have to work together immediately so this facilitates group bonding. It doesn\u2019t contribute towards formal assessment but the best group gets a prize as a token to motivate\u00a0them! The questionnaire allows the GTA to identify weak areas in content and this feeds into the future seminars.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Group work:\u00a0Many students are initially anxious about group work or\u00a0receiving a group grade.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Attendance is mandatory and students cannot score higher on a group grade than their attendance. This alleviates some anxiety about group grading (of course MCs and illness are taken into account).<\/li>\n<li>Because the criteria for the presentations weights content higher than the delivery, students who are anxious about presenting don\u2019t worry so much about this affecting their grade. The group also allocates its own roles so not everyone has to present if they don\u2019t want to; this is pre-decided and agreed upon by the groups, but anyone not presenting might take a larger role in another aspect.<\/li>\n<li>Students don\u2019t practice in front of other groups so feedback is not public and helps to reduce stress.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0GTA can see the process of the individual\u00a0throughout the seminars,\u00a0so if someone lies\u00a0on their reflective commentary about their level of input, then they will know.<\/li>\n<li>There are inevitably some drop-outs in\u00a0the\u00a0first year, which means that sometimes groups can be imbalanced by the end of the semester. However, this also happens in real life and is something for the students to reflect on.<\/li>\n<li>In a class currently there are 100-180 (4\/5\u00a0students\u00a0in each group). Because of the increased intake, groups may have to increase to 6\/7 next year.\u00a0This is a potential challenge because smaller groups work more effectively. This will be monitored.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>What are your next steps?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>For the coming academic year, a pre-semester project will be introduced to further facilitate group bonding and identify initial issues that students might have in negotiating group issues. Students spend a week in their groups to develop as psychology tour of London produce a website or brochure. This is formative and focuses on the process rather than the finished product. It is a form of diagnostic assessment to see what issues are there and groups which might need more scaffolding.<\/p>\n<h3><b>What advice would you give to colleagues who are thinking of trying group work?\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Ensure plenty of guidance is given for students around group work, especially if\u00a0it is\u00a0being introduced at level 4.<\/li>\n<li>Balance group assessment with some individual summative assessment for the module. If students know they will be assessed in some way for their have individual contribution, it alleviates anxiety about group work.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Assessment Case Study: Department of Psychology\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HwJ22Scdp6Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/open?id=1UwpN_GUSUVLlKlefsjlFwE9pKBAMN2Ok\">transcript is available<\/a> for this video.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Instructor: James Findon, IoPPN Module: Addressing Problems, Level 4 Assessment type:\u00a0 Summative group poster\u00a0(semester one 35%) Summative\u00a0group presentation delivered in\u00a0a format of the group\u2019s choice <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/2018\/08\/03\/finden\/\" title=\"Using group work in a large module for summative assessment\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":745,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,2,13,15],"tags":[25,5,29,28,26,27,8],"class_list":["post-123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-authentic-task","category-case-studies","category-formative","category-metacogition","tag-group-work","tag-ioppn","tag-large-class","tag-level-4","tag-posters","tag-presentation","tag-reflection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/384"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1097,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123\/revisions\/1097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/aflkings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}