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August 1, 2002
Collaborative Group Projects:
An Essential Element In The Training Of Computer Students
By Betty Smith
The workers of the future will need not only technological skills but also the ability to collaborate with people in remote offices around the world. Employers will expect employees to master a broad range of knowledge and skills, be able to solve problems and make sound decisions as they disseminate facts and filter information via intranets and the Internet. It will be essential to be able to communicate effectively with others in team settings.
An integral part of computer training should be group projects where students develop documents but where electronic communications is their only means of collaboration. The main purpose of such a group project would be to promote effective communication. Additionally, this type of project would give students hands-on experiences creating original documents using the technological aspects of an office software program while demonstrating the ability to be a productive member of a group. The following is an example of a group project that worked well at Christian Brothers High School in Memphis, Tennessee where our Software Tools Class made good use of a real-world piece of software - Microsoft's Office 2000.
The concept was to simulate a business with branch offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York City. We created teams made up of at least one student from each of the three sections of the course. The group members were allowed to communicate via e-mail only (or through a newsgroup set up through Outlook). Their assignment was to create a newsletter in three stages, one stage for each six weeks of the semester. Students used e-mail attachments to pass the newsletter among group members for proofing, revisions and editing.
The instructor received a copy of all e-mail messages sent between group members. The class instructor, the team itself, course peers, and parents (who could view the newsletter through the school web site) assessed the project. Everyone knew that assessment was based on: the effectiveness of communication among the group members, the quality and creativity of the finished document, the clarity and transition of thoughts, documentation of the research component, and even the sentence structure and grammar of the newsletter articles.
Stage One
Stage One of the project required students to create a two-page school newsletter for the student body and parents. The group members collaborated on a title and design of the first issue. The newsletter included a feature article, announcements, notices, or other items of interest to students and/or parents. To demonstrate mastery of the software students enhanced their newsletters with graphics, color, shading, ruling lines, borders, and any other word processing feature that would demonstrate mastery of the software. One of the articles in the newsletter required students to research a legal or ethical issue related to the use of computers in our society. Each group member contributed to the research of the article and submitted his documentation through a hyperlink within an e-mail message to the group member responsible for writing the article.
Stage Two
Stage Two of the project involved creating a spreadsheet that would be added to a new page in the newsletter. The spreadsheet was to summarize a manageable group of player statistics for one sport-either a team at the students' school or a college or professional sports team. E-mail messages between group members were used to select the team and player statistics that would be used in the group's newsletter. Then, each group member collected his own statistics for the selected team and created an original spreadsheet. The completed spreadsheets were e-mailed to the other group members, who then collaborated to decide which spreadsheet most appropriately represented the statistics.
Stage Three
Stage Three of the project involved adding another page to the newsletter created in stage one. This page included an article elaborating the statistics of the group's chosen sports team and the spreadsheet created in stage two. An additional assignment was to create a Power Point slide of the spreadsheet that could be used in a presentation at the team's sports banquet. The slide had to be submitted for assessment along with the completed newsletter.
We established a Problem Solving Committee to oversee any concerns or complaints involving the project, the group members, or the assessments. Two people from each class and the instructor constituted the committee. Groups or group members with a concern presented a written complaint and were prepared, if necessary, to present their case to the governing body. Any committee member whose group was before the committee recused himself during those proceedings.
The students were encouraged to comment on the project when completing their self-assessment. Their written comments indicated the following: (1) this project was a favorite activity of the class, (2) they enjoyed the creative processes involved, and (3) they liked the challenge of completing the project without ever orally communicating with their group members. The final projects were displayed for a semester on the teacher's web site. This experience in communicating with others in remote locations will be invaluable as today's students enter the work force in the next few years.
Email: Betty Smith
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