Teamwork makes the dream work: Group contracts and reflections for better group project communication and outcomes

Group work whether online or in-person almost always begets one or more emails that read “I’d really rather not do group work. Can I complete this project alone?”. Students, limited on time and juggling a number of courses and responsibilities rarely get a thrill at the thought of a “group project”. Despite our best efforts as instructors it can be difficult to inspire in students the notion that life and work in general are often group projects, and one can rarely go at it alone. We want our students to experience collaborative and active learning, and group work is often one way of doing this on a smaller, more intimate scale (Hesterman, 2016). How can we relieve the pressure and the fear that one group member feels will become their solo burden under the name “group project”? Group contracts and reflections may be a good place to start.

What is a Group Contract?

In several of our courses we begin group projects with a Group Contract, a collaborative document signed by all group members that outlines how they’d like the group project process to proceed, the strengths and weaknesses each member brings to the project, and a basic outline of their processes and accountability plans. By identifying collective knowledge and resources before the project begins we can better situate our students to be more cohesive and effective (Hesterman, 2016). This is a graded assignment due shortly after groups form, before any detailed group work begins.

In class we discuss with students the importance of what group work looks like in our own fields (rarely does one read an academic paper with only one researcher listed), and talk about how contributions may be different but equal in their impact. Some members may have more to give to the group on different weeks, and may be better at some tasks rather than others. This is a normal part of collaborative work. Students may benefit from scheduling collaborative working sessions with specific goals, or they may do better working solo and bringing products to the group for a final polish and placement within the project. The group contract will help us understand the members of the group, but better still it creates accountability, which can be harder to generate when students who are fully online may feel less personally connected to their peers (Hesterman, 2016).

Parts of the Group Contract

We give the class a word document template to generate their contract. It includes:

• Name and contact information: The actual contact information student check, be it Canvas, Slack, or WhatsApp. What is the real way they can best reach each other. I’ve also had luck with services like Remind, which is built for this exact purpose and texts students with a notification.
• Their typical homework hours and days during the weeks and weekends. The time zone they work in may also be needed.
• Technology to which students have access, and know how to use (Google Docs, Adobe products, Video recording/editing, etc).
• Any regular meetings days, and times, and perhaps a group zoom link
• 4-5 Expected behaviors: these might include things like submitting pieces of the project at minimum 2 days before the next group meeting so everyone has time to review and edit and make meeting time more efficient. Responding to email or requests in a certain period of time, or other items your students will generate.
• Consequences for when team expectations are not met- Do students follow up with each other 1-2 times, have a grace period of 24 hours? When do they reach our to the instructor to mediate problems and when can they do so on their own?
• Their strengths and weaknesses in working: Some students may thrive on the visual elements of the project like slide design and photo hunting, while others do better with copywriting, still another may be better suited towards sourcing and citing material, or designing surveys. What do they love to do? Hate to do?
• Project specific items: Any topics for research, formats for presentation or other things they need to inform the instructor about based upon project requirements
• Roles and Responsibilities: Depending on the project should students assume different roles? What are those roles? Does each role have a backup (cross-assigned) should the original member be unable to complete their task.
• An internal timeline for completing project tasks
• What is the task?
• When is it due to fellow group members? Does this due date allow for lateness, follow-up, or redistribution of work if a group member disappears?
• When will it be approved by the group?
• Who has the responsibility of submitting it on the group’s behalf?
• A statement of signing and agreement, before it’s submitted.

Follow-up and follow through: The Group Reflection

We conclude group projects with students providing an evaluation of theirs and their peers work on a submitted form. It is a place for students to reflect on their own work and the group project process overall.This further enhances their personal learning and decision-making through the tool of reflection (Hesterman, 2016). It also helps instructors clarify project needs and adjust contract requirements for future semesters based upon student feedback. Students should know this follow up form will be a separate grade, and it should be listed in the syllabus along with the questions that will be asked.

We include questions like:

• Briefly explain your role in the project and the tasks you completed.
• Briefly explain the roles of the other members of your group and how they contributed to the project's development.
• Briefly write about any part of the project that you thought worked well and what was worthwhile about this experience to you as a student.
• Briefly discuss what you would do differently next time, whether it would be selecting a different set of tasks, changing how you interacted with your fellow members, or anything else you observed during the project's completion
• Did you find the group contract helpful in planning your group project and completing in a timely manner? Why or why not?

Helping students understand the group projects are just as much about the process as the product requires helping them identify the aspects of the process they and their peers contribute to and how to reflect upon their own successes, failures, strengths, and weaknesses. Group project contracts and concluding reflections are a good way to let them see into the process beyond their powerpoint presentation or recorded video.

What other ideas do you use for successful outcomes on group projects? Have you used group contracts? What did and did not work?

Sources:

• Hesterman, Sandra Dr, The Digital Handshake: A Group Contract for Authentic eLearning in Higher Education, Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 13(3), 2016. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/jutlp/vol13/iss3/6

Post Author:

Lenora Ott is an instructional designer in the Center for Evolution and Medicine at Arizona State University. Lenora assists faculty with developing and launching their online courses and provides long term evaluation, redesign, and support for online coursework. Her passion is empowering faculty to create meaningful learning experiences for their students and themselves online. She has worked in higher education for 7 years and has a Master of Science in Global Technology and Development from Arizona State University and a Graduate Certificate in Educational Technology from Northern Arizona University.