University of Delaware saved time and gained oversight with group evaluations in online learning

Learning objectives

• In this course, students learned about health in 6 dimensions, gain knowledge and skills to make informed decisions about health and related behaviors.

Learning activities

The course covers several activities, including: online discussion boards, weekly journal entries, application/reflection projects on topics learned in class, and a group project

• The weekly journal entries were part of a 6-week behaviour change project which began with signing a ‘behaviour change contract’ and ended in a final reflection paper
• For the group project, students worked in randomly allocated groups of around 5, ultimately producing a PSA (public service announcement) video which was due about halfway through the course. This video would then be shown during class.

The use of Group Member Evaluation: 

The tool was used for the group assessment component taking place at the end of the group project. Group Member Evaluation tool was used by each group member to rate their teammates' performance over the course of the project. Each team member evaluated their whole group according to a 5-point scale rating over 6 criteria, such as participation, presentation, creativity, and punctuality.

Learning activities based on the Bloom taxonomy are mainly at the level of:

Understanding

key information about health behaviour across multiple dimensions

Applying

information learned on certain topics in video format and throughout projects; lessons learned from class to own health

20% of the group project grade was determined through the Group Member Evaluation assignment. This grade consisted both of the scoring peers gave to each other on the various criteria, as well as for completing the feedback activity in the first place.

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"One thing that's powerful about this tool versus the spreadsheet - they actually got to see what everyone said and react to it. I found that part fascinating". - Professor Karyn Stockar, University of Delaware

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The role of the instructor

• The instructor detailed the proceedings of the group project to students in an introductory class, making mention of how they would be expected to complete the activity step-by-step. Apart from this, little extra guidance was found to be necessary.
• It was also mentioned in the syllabus that group evaluations would be part of the learning activities, giving students more chance to prepare and letting them know what to expect.

Added value of technology

Integrating FeedbackFruits tools into Canvas allows for automatic syncing of both groups and grades. Making use of Group Member Evaluation to centralise the feedback process in one platform, grades were automatically updated in Canvas after students had finished the assignment. This saved the instructor time in having to manually enter each piece of data for each student.

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