- Groupwork: Trials, Tribulations, & Triumphs
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Mason Core Instructor Certification Program
- Mason Core Assessment
- Faculty Resources
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Groupwork: Trials, Tribulations, & Triumphs |
We don’t talk much about groupwork in Mason Core because of the need for individual student artifacts for assessment purposes, but there are a myriad of good reasons to use this type of assignment in your course to meet other learning outcomes. Group projects engage students in collaborative learning, promote teamwork and leadership skills development, which are key career readiness competencies, and, although it should not be the main reason we use them, result in less total assignments to grade.
You may have noticed that students are often less than enthusiastic about group projects, and likely for good reason. This is because while students are often assigned group projects, they rarely receive much instruction on how to develop, practice, and master the skills needed for effective collaboration. This can result in dysfunctional groups that defeat the purpose of collaborative learning. They also require a great deal of your time to manage. Read on for a few tips on how to better support students in group projects.
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1. Support team building. |
Instead of jumping right into the nuts and bolts of a project, students benefit from the opportunity to build relationships around an agreed upon team charter or contract. Provide discussion questions about what they liked and didn't like about previous group projects, what new skills they want to develop in this project, what they expect from each team member, and how they will handle disengagement along the way. Giving students the structure to build a better foundation helps them to see how teamwork can be leveraged for success, beyond the group project, and it sets the expectation early that all team members are critical for the project’s success.
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2. Provide a process for project completion. |
Once students better understand their team members' skills, experiences, and goals, they are ready to develop a plan. Have students write out a process for their project completion, complete with roles and responsibilities of team members (if appropriate), potential roadblocks, and tentative deadlines for project components. You can provide a template for students to fill out their project plan using a whiteboarding tool like Lucid, which is a Canvas add-on available in George Mason Canvas courses.
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3. Require peer- and self-assessment. |
At the culmination of the project, or potentially each stage of the project, have students reflect on the project experience, focusing on how they contributed to the process, what their communication with team members was like, and how they impacted the final product. Provide an opportunity for them to reflect on their peers’ performance as well. If you make this part of the overall grade, it will make it clear that anyone who does not fully contribute to the project will experience some grade-related consequences. This is also an excellent opportunity to ask students to articulate how the group project contributed to the development of their career readiness skills. This will help them make connections that they can use to articulate their skills in future job interviews.
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If you have group projects scheduled for the end of the semester, you might have enough time to consider how you can more intentionally support the development of teamwork in your student groups with these tips. If you’ve been thinking about adding a group project for a future term, think about these points as you develop your guidelines. Sometimes the process is just as important as the product!
Are you already doing this? We’d love to hear from you and potentially highlight your experience in a future newsletter! Fill out the form below to share how you incorporate groupwork in your Mason Core course. Not doing groupwork? We’d still love to hear from you about an innovation you are implementing in your Mason Core course!
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Mason Core Instructor Certification Program |
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The Mason Core Instructor Certification Program (MC-ICP) focuses on the strategies necessary for teaching non-majors and ensuring student success as part of Mason Core. MC-ICP is open to all George Mason University instructors who have taught one or more Mason Core courses in the past two years. At the end of every semester, all instructors who complete the program will receive a special email signature-file recognition icon noting this accomplishment. In addition, your academic unit leaders will be notified directly of your achievement.
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The cluster workshops are a great way to complete the Level 1 certification in one week. Attend both parts of the High Impact Practices workshop and finish off with the Solving the Puzzle—all within the same week! Register for each workshop below.
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Cluster: High Impact Practices Part 1
Mon, May 18, 10am-12pm
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| Cluster: High Impact Practices Part 2
Wed, May 20, 10am-12pm
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Solving the Puzzle: Engaging Non-Majors in Mason Core Classes
Fri, May 22, 10am-11am
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Global History, Natural Science, and Writing Intensive: Submissions Due May 11 |
Continuing this semester, we will be collecting student artifacts for the following categories: Global History, Natural Science, and Writing Intensive. We appreciate your ongoing commitment to Mason Core, and the data we receive from the assessment process helps to further refine Mason Core to better serve our students. If you are teaching a course in any of these categories, please plan to participate. Remember you still need to submit materials even if you participated last semester.
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Global Contexts: Pre-Assessment Workshop on May 5 from 10am-12pm |
In Fall 2026, we will begin collecting student artifacts for Global Contexts. To support our collection efforts and ensure that submitted materials adequately address the learning outcomes, we will be holding a pre-assessment workshop on May 5 for instructors, course coordinators, chairs, and program directors. Sign up below!
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Revising a course or developing something new for Mason Core consideration? We recommend faculty review our course development and proposal resources available on our website.
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