Thoughts on the Collins Article
Chris’ article and the Tagg Chapters helped clarify for me
some of the questions I had about how a group grade was intended to help us
become more learning oriented rather than grade oriented. If I understand the
theory correctly, it basically says that by engaging in collaborative learning,
students form a community and through this become more engaged in the learning
experience and less focused on grades.
But then I have to wonder, to what extent does this really
re-orient us toward learning? We have all participated in group work and know
that it does not necessarily result in a more engaging learning activity or
greater sense of community, nor does it necessarily shift grade-oriented students
toward being learning oriented. In fact, students will often split up group
assignments so that they can each do their own parts individually rather than
work together, and students often expect individual grades on group
assignments. Even when group work or other collaborative learning experiences
work well and students are engaged in a high level of cognitive activity and a
strong sense of community and forget about the grades for a while, after the
activities are over or the class session has finished for the day, they soon
return to thinking about their individual grades in the class.
So perhaps, the
only way to go about this properly (short of reforming the whole program as
suggested in Tagg) is to do what Chris proposed to us: Commit 100%, and not
only assign group activities but a group grade for the whole class as well. In
this way students are encouraged to collaborate in one way or another
throughout the whole semester, not just for some activities and assignments. At
the end of this semester, it will be interesting to see if this approach has
worked and we feel that the collaborative learning environment created by the
group grade has helped us to focus on learning and forget to be grade-oriented.
What do you think? Am I interpreting the theory correctly? Are there other points that I'm missing?
(Apologies on the lateness of this post. I thought I posted it last week but I guess I only saved it as a draft.)
ReplyDeleteEven though we are participating in this experiment, we are still constrained by the semester time limit. How will our views be changed at the end of the semester when in the fall we go back to the usual individual grading system? Are there any other professors willing to switch over to this type of learning model? One class is a small change, impacting 13 students. Will we advocate for this in our future classes or will it just become a memory?
ReplyDeleteI think you have hit on a key issue here. Environment can and does shape behavior, but not absolutely. It is always a blend of individual effort and inspiration. Good thoughts.
ReplyDelete