Strategies to Implement Group Projects in the Online Classroom

Learning Partner Activities

6 Awesome Cooperative Classroom Games
Explains how cooperative classroom games differ from competitive games.
TeachHUB.com.

Collaborative Learning: Group Work
Provides examples of collaborative learning and group activities.
Cornell University, Center for Teaching Excellence

Online Collaborative Learning Tools for Teachers and Educators
102 free (or free-to-try) online collaborative learning tools
Docurated.vom

Peer Review Activities

Planning and Guiding In-Class Peer Review – The Teaching Center, Washington University in St. Louis, provides sample peer review worksheets for writing activities.

Strategy Guide: Peer Review
This strategy guide explains how you can employ peer review in your classroom, guiding students as they offer each other constructive feedback to improve their writing and communication skills.
NCTE.

Praise-Questions-Polish (PQP)
Examples of statements and questions demonstrating how students compliment one another’s work, question areas where revision may be needed, and make specific suggestions to improve expression and the quality of text.

PQP: A Group Revision Strategy that Works
from Alabama Public Television.

PQP Sample Questions to Guide Students

Praise Question Polish Form – If this Word doc doesn't open on your screen, look for it in your Downloads folder.

Team Projects

Why You Need to Lay Down Ground Rules for a High-Performing Team
A good team needs to know how to work as a team and what the team's goal is.
Inc.com

Rules of Engagement
Examples of rules of engagement embraced by the best performing groups.
Slaw: Canada’s online legal magazine.

Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning is a dynamic classroom approach in which students actively explore real-world problems and challenges and acquire a deeper knowledge.
Edutopia.

Tools to Facilitate Group Projects

Mastering the Art of Online Teamwork
Claire McDonnell describes use of wikis to facilitate group projects.

Assessing Group Work

How can I assess group work? 
"All of the principles of assessment that apply to individual work apply to group work as well. Assessing group work has added challenges, however."
Eberly Center, Carnegie Mellon University. 

Grading Complexities of Group Work
Describes options for assessing the small group’s individual contributions and group final presentation/product.
Eberly Center, Carnegie Mellon University

Examples of Group Project Tools
Includes examples of group resume, team contract templates, self-evaluation forms, and group process assessments
Eberly Center, Carnegie Mellon University

Sample Rubrics for Peer Review, Self-Review and Instructor Feedback

Collaboration Rubric
Karen Franker, University of Wisconsin-Stout

Modified Collaboration Rubric
Jane Mackenzie, University of Wisconsin-Stout

6-12 Collaboration Rubric (CCSS Aligned)
This rubric helps teachers guide students in grades 6-12 in being effective collaborators in a project.
Buck Institute for Education (BIE)

Group Work: Assessment and Grading
Template for peer feedback.

Dingel, M., & Wei, W. (2014). Influences on peer evaluation in a group project: an exploration of leadership, demographics and course performance. Assessment & Evaluation In Higher Education, 39(6), 729-742.

Figueira, A., & Leal, H. (2013). An Online Tool to Manage and Assess Collaborative Group Work. Proceedings of The International Conference on E-Learning, 112-120.