Teamwork: Teaching Teamwork

“I’ve found that group projects enhance students’ willingness to take intellectual risks. Individually, students are often afraid of ‘doing it wrong,’ which ironically alienates them from their own thinking process and reduces the quality of the work they submit. So, for better or worse, group projects tend to be a bit more creative and ‘out of the box.’ The decision-making process is more drawn out, in a productive way, when student work in groups. This helps to scaffold a deliberative thought process that is an intrinsic part of pre-writing analysis and planning.”

-- Dr. Joanna Fax, HCC English

"According to our QEP data, assigning team projects is one of the best tools in our teaching toolbox! My favorite time of the semester is when student teams present their projects to each other. Inevitably they have learned far more about the subject matter than from a lecture; their joy and pride in "owning" the material is palpable. Better yet, students involved in team projects score significantly higher on relevant final exam questions than students who do not." 

-- Instructor, Biology Department