Instructors/Instructor Guide/Homework Teams/Guiding the Teams to Success

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	Assigning Teams
	Guiding the Teams
	Roles within Teams

Orientation to UMich Teaching

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Student Data Sheet (Instructor access)

Helping Homework Teams Function Effectively

Students will be more likely to work at making their homework teams work if they perceive that what gets done within their group is an important part of the class. Some of the ways you can make this part of the class important are:

Give team homework a fairly large part of the grade. Counting team homework as 25% of the course grade will ensure that students take it seriously.

Have some method for letting students see what other teams do. For example, calling on individuals (or pairs) to put solutions to particular problems up on the board and explain to the class why they did what they did. Don't always ask for volunteers. Students are going to be more likely to make sure they understand a particular problem if they think they might be called upon to explain it to the class.

Photocopy good solutions and distribute them to other teams. In fact, you should resist the temptation to write up your own solutions. Their peers' good work is more impressive.

Some instructors have found it helpful to students if at the beginning of the semester the groups start some of the difficult homework problems in class. If a group is getting stuck at a particular point the instructor can ask other groups to help out. For example, the instructor can ask two or three groups how they have decided to approach a particular problem. In this way the instructor can help guide the students in learning to solve problems. It also will help students quickly find out that there is more than one way to approach problems.

How to deal with "sick" teams

In most classes there will generally be at least one sick team -- a team that is not working together effectively. Some of the signs of a sick team might be:

Students appear to be working individually and not as a group.
The homework is not up to par.
Student(s) complain that someone isn't pulling his or her weight (doesn't show up, hasn't tried to work with the material before the meeting, doesn't contribute to the group, etc.)
Student(s) complain that one or two other students dominate the group and don't listen to him/her.

Problems can often be minimized by giving students clear guidelines and instructions on what is expected, the goals of the group work, and the procedures for making the team work. Some strategies that instructors have used to help make a dysfunctional team function successfully:

Meet with the students in the team and discuss with them their perceptions of what is going on, perhaps using the team evaluation forms from their Student Guide as a starting point.
Give the students themselves the responsibility for making the team work.
Change the teams around.
Have the team meet in your office and practice working together.

Using team evaluation forms

Included in each Student's Guide is a team evaluation form. These may be used in a number of ways including: (1) each member of the group fills out a form for every other member and then they share and discuss the results, (2) everyone fills out one for each member of the group and hands it in to you. Whether or not you make use of the evaluation forms, it is helpful for students to use them when they are reflecting on how their group is working.