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An out-of-class project is the
most difficult kind of cooperative learning activity that
faculty can undertake. When students meet (or don't meet)
outside of class, it is much more difficult to monitor their
progress, give them feedback about their performance, and
resolve difficulties as they arise. Without careful
attention to the design and management of these projects, it
is sometimes possible for teams to let one student do all
the work, or for teams to simply divide a project, work on
the sections independently, and paste them together the
night before it's due. Besides the hard feelings that can
occur, students often don't learn the content or skills that
the project was meant to teach them.
We asked our experts and faculty
for advice on setting up out-of-class projects. They first
noted that it's important to think carefully about why you
want students to work together outside of class and what the
major logistical problems might be.
Veronica Burrows responds.
Click on the link below to hear her response.
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Veronica Burrows
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Associate
Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering
Arizona State University |
Practical suggestions from
faculty fell into two categories: how to prevent problems
and how to intervene if problems occur. Suggestions for
preventing problems included having teams develop a code of
conduct and agreeing to hold each other accountable to it,
establishing frequent checkpoints along the duration of the
project, and setting up a peer evaluation system before the
project begins. Click on the links below to hear more.
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Darwyn Linder
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Professor
and Chair, Department of Psychology
Arizona State University
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Cesar Malave
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Associate
Professor of Industrial Engineering
Texas A&M University
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Susan Urban
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Professor of
Computer Science and Engineering
Arizona State University
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Veronica Burrows
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Associate
Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering
Arizona State University
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Richard Felder
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Hoechst
Celanese Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemical
Engineering
North Carolina State University |
Then faculty learn that
problems are occurring in one or more teams, they may choose
to intervene by having the full class develop some
strategies for resolving team conflicts, or they may choose
to facilitate a problem-solving session for a particular
team. Click on the links below to hear more.
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Karl Smith |
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Professor of
Civil Engineering
Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota
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P.K. Imbrie
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Assistant
Professor of Engineering, Department of Freshman
Engineering
Purdue University
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Veronica Burrows
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Associate
Professor of Chemical and Materials Engineering
Arizona State University
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Vince Pizziconi
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Associate
Professor of Bioengineering
Arizona State University
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Richard Layton
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Assistant
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
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Ron Roedel |
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Professor of
Electrical Engineering
Arizona State University |
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