Medicine Learning and Teaching Forum 2012 - Online Projects
Online Projects
Wednesday 7 December 2012 - Developing online student group project work.
- Group Project - Time to relax while you watch someone who cares do all the work. How to get a group to work?
Abstract
This presentation will discuss the experiences in developing small science student group projects (3 to 5 students) that are prepared online in an interactive manner throughout the semester. This group assessment item replaced a previous poster presentation project. This assessment has now been running for a number of years, and the current presentation will describe the pedagogy of this assessment as well as associated practical issues. Key practical issues discussed include: initial tutorials to train students, literature researching strategies, copyright issues, plagiarism and peer assessment.
Introduction
- Pedagogically
- Collaboration - Communication - Responsibility - Teamwork.
- I see great value in designing group assessment items for students as this really tests their ability to work collaboratively and to determine their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as those of others, in a team environment.
- Please note that many students initially do not like this form of assessment, as it relies on them making to much of an "ongoing contribution" (more work than they intended) and they are also concerned about project "free riders" (academic plagiarism).
- In the past
- Designing group assessment items often involved working inside practical class times, or preparation of posters/talks on a specific topic either inside class times or with an option for some independent work outside those times.
- I have previously used both these techniques in designing course assessments.
- Currently
- I have designed a semester-long group assessment project that allows students an option to work together over an extended period researching topics that relate directly to the course goals.
- There are many different components to this project process, and given the limited time for my presentation, I will only be able to touch on a few key concepts outlined in the abstract.
- Note that there is also a Medicine online group assessment project, that works a little differently in structure from the model described here.
Further details and links are made available here for you to explore further in your own time, and I am always happy to respond to emailed questions.
--Mark Hill 11:32, 27 November 2012 (EST)
Project Design
- Students are introduced to group project in the first lecture when going through the course outline.
Project Timeline
Semester Weeks
- Week 2 - Introduction to assessment (group and individual), previous examples, topics, resources, plagiarism, student questions. Group design Online Assessment
- Week 3 - Project tutorials, referencing, referencing resources, copyright, adding an image, topic selection. Allocated groups ANAT2341 References
- Week 4 - Sub-headings, allocation of individual student work. How's the group working? Editing
- Week 5 - Topic concept area progress. Problems?
- Week 6 - Project work. Assessor Feedback
- Week 7 - Project work. Pulling your weight?
- Week 8 - Project work.
- Week 9 - Peer assessment process.
- Week 10 - Project update in response to peer comments.
- Week 11 - Project locked to students. Individual student feedback on group.
- Week 12 - Final Assessment.
Group Assessment Criteria |
---|
The assessment criteria was based upon those designed for the Medicine student Wikis.
|
Practical Issues
Teams
2. Project Team - which are working. | |
---|---|
All Project page edits by Group | All Discussion page edits by Group |
Training Tutorials
The following collapsed tables provide starting points for students during project work, you also have tutorials built into practical classes and practice exercises for individual assessmet items.
1. Working online |
---|
Students are first provided a 1 page how to edit a Wik document. This is followed by students setting up their own page and practicing basic editing. Finally they are shown the Help:Editing Basics page and linked resources. Important to explain that the early project should be about researching the topic rather than getting the layout correct. 2011 Students |
2. Referencing |
---|
First Read the help page Referencing
All references used in making your project page should be cited where they appear in the text or images. In page edit mode where XXXX is the PubMed ID number use the following code.
For references not listed on PubMed, and text can be inserted between <ref></ref> tags. Where the reference list will appear make a new section and on a new line the following code. <references/> |
3. Uploading Images |
---|
First Read the help page Images
A tutorial will be provided towards the end of the lab in uploading images. The image must first be uploaded to the site.
Images not including the above information will be deleted by the course coordinator and be considered in the student assessment process. Students cannot delete uploaded images. Contact the course coordinator with the file address. |
Literature Researching Strategies
- Identify key resource journals - content use.
- Key concepts.
- Historic vs current research topics.
- Outside of the research literature - textbooks, research laboratories, other resources.
Copyright
Copyright Tutorial | For Students
Plagiarism
Student advice on Plagiarism |
---|
First Read the help page Copyright Tutorial
Currently all students originally assigned to each group are listed as equal authors/contributors to their project. If you have not contributed the content you had originally agreed to, nor participated in the group work process, then you should contact the course coordinator immediately and either discuss your contribution or request removal from the group author list. Remember that all student online contributions are recorded by date, time and the actual contributed content. A similar email reminder of this information was sent to all current students. Please note the Universities Policy regarding Plagiarism In particular this example:
Academic Misconduct carries penalties. If a student is found guilty of academic misconduct, the penalties include warnings, remedial educative action, being failed in an assignment or excluded from the University for two years.
|
Peer Assessment
Concluding Remarks
I hope from this presentation you can see what is required to make online group projects really work. This includes a gradual evolution of timelines, ongoing feedback strategies and realistic student goals.
Key identified components have been:
- Tutorials that are well structured both online and in-class.
- Monitoring groups how they are progressing and providing feedback.
- Monitoring individuals how each member in a group is contributing.
- Peer assessment allowing students to assess others work and then allowing groups to improve their final submission based upon this process.
Given the brief time available for this presentation, I would suggest that you open the various collapsed tables and links shown on this current page for reading in your own time.
Links
- Online Projects
- ANAT2341 Embryology Projects 2009 - 2012
- ANAT3231 Cell Biology Projects 2009 - 2012
- 2012 Learning & Teaching Seminar
- Site Map Education
External Links
Glossary Links
- Glossary: A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | Numbers | Symbols | Term Link
Cite this page: Hill, M.A. (2024, May 30) Embryology Medicine Learning and Teaching Forum 2012 - Online Projects. Retrieved from https://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/embryology/index.php/Medicine_Learning_and_Teaching_Forum_2012_-_Online_Projects
- © Dr Mark Hill 2024, UNSW Embryology ISBN: 978 0 7334 2609 4 - UNSW CRICOS Provider Code No. 00098G