Solving the group project assessment quandary: Can instructor’s partitioning of groups topics among students be the solution?

Authors

  • Heba Ezzeldin Helmy Professor of Economics Economics Program Leader October University for Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA) 6th of October City Egypt

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21100/compass.v11i2.778

Keywords:

Undergraduate teaching, Group project assessment, Pedagogy

Abstract

Team work is one of the generic skills that undergraduate students are expected to acquire by the time they graduate. Nevertheless, the traditional methodology used for assessing group projects suffered from several drawbacks which center mainly in the inaccurate assessment of each student’s contribution in the project, in addition to other shortcomings. In this paper we present a new technique in allocating topics in group projects, and in assessment of such projects, where the instructor – not the students in each group – divides each topic into several subtopics depending on the number of students allocated in each group.  In addition, the new technique obliges each student to separately upload his/her part in the project in his own account on turnitin, rather than uploading the whole project in one account as previously done. The results were superior compared to conventional projects as the students’ complaints of injustice were minimized, while marking accuracy was maximized.

Author Biography

Heba Ezzeldin Helmy, Professor of Economics Economics Program Leader October University for Modern Sciences and Arts (MSA) 6th of October City Egypt

Heba E. Helmy is Professor of Economics and Economics Program Leader at the Faculty of Management Sciences at MSA University. She has published many articles in economics journals including – but not limited to – Journal of Economic Issues, International Review of Applied Economics, Forum for Social Economics, Contemporary Arab Affairs, the International Journal of Development Issues and the International Review of Economics Education. She is also a referee in many other international economics journals.

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Published

12/10/2018

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 2 (2018)

Section

Research Articles

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