Structuring Individual Accountability into Student Group Work

A common challenge to student work groups is the free-rider or social loafing effect. Social loafing involves individuals in a group putting in less effort than they would if they were working alone. This often happens in groups for various reasons such as lack of motivation, reduced sense of personal responsibility, feelings of anonymity, and absence of individual accountability.

Therefore, when designing a group assignment, it is important to create portions of that activity which evaluate the contributions of each group member. Accordingly, students need to be made aware that there will be an individual grade as well as a group grade. In addition to the overall group goals, an essential component of a successful group project is applying some of the methods listed below to structure certain aspects of individual accountability.

Individual Products for the Group Project

• Have members select individual deliverables for the group project (e.g. develop the introduction, create the references page, provide visuals and graphics)
• Ask each person to perform independent research or select a specific sub-topic, which is incorporated into the overall group project
• Require periodic individual submissions during development of the group project (e.g. weekly journal entry or reflection paper)

Roles

• Instruct participants to choose specific roles that help manage the group work
• Assign the leadership role and a rotation schedule between members
• Provide a group learning contract that stipulates responsibilities and duties

Group Discussions

• Require weekly posts for check-ins about the group project and individual progress
• Present opportunities and evidence of participation, interactions, and contributions
• Promotes the importance of the collaborative communication process besides the final group product

Peer and Self Evaluations

• Have group members evaluate the performance of other individuals in their group
• Provides feedback and assessment of how each member contributed
• Helps to monitor and/or appraise individual participation and involvement
• Ask for self-evaluations about personal contributions to the group project