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Having your students doing work in groups is beneficial for many reasons. However, there can be many situations that can make the experience messy and less positive that you want it to be. If you are wondering if it is even possible to make group work more efficient, there are strategies that help (starting with careful design of the project).

Here are some resources:

Faculty guide to team projects: Strategies to support and assess group work in college classes (why, what, how, etc.).

Best practices for designing group projects: Create interdependence, teach your students how to work in groups but at the same time build individual accountability.

Why students hate group projects (and how to change that): James Lang described his daughter’s negative experience with high-stakes projects and offered suggestions such as giving students enough guidance and having checkpoints. Include small checkpoints or scaffolds.

Making teamwork work: Explains the importance of giving students time to get to know each other and build relationships as the first activity for group work. Icebreakers and team building. Focusing on the process and giving students feedback are important too.

Teamwork and collaboration: Explains how to design group projects, different types of group work and strategies for group work and collaboration.

What else do you need to consider? Provide a rubric and a peer feedback system, How to evaluate group work. Share with students: Being an Effective Team member.

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Here are some of the most recent blog posts:

A Sociolinguist’s Journey: From GenAI Skeptic to Half Convert- Jamie Shinhee Lee

The Tyranny of the Everything Bagel: Teachers’ Responsibility for Student Digital Distraction During Class Time- Helet Botha

Balancing GenAI in the Classroom: Fostering Learning with Transparency, Autonomy, and Clear Purpose - Xipeng Wang

Faculty Panel Recording: Reckoning with AI Writing in the Wake of Pandemic Teaching- Carla

Conversation as Care: Why Talking to Students About AI is Our Most Essential Task Right Now- Shelly Jarenski

We are happy to meet with you for any teaching needs and depending on what you want to do in your class, you can book this semester several meetings with the instructional designers. For example if you are designing a new class, book at least 3-4 meetings.

The Hub is not limited to talk about: Online courses, new courses, PBL, or GenAI.

Let us know how to help you!

Questions or comments? Belen Garcia, beleng@umich.edu

While the HubCap is designed with our faculty as the primary audience, others (campus leaders, directors, student services staff) may also find valuable insights within.Feel free to forward this newsletter on if you know someone who could benefit from this information.

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