Group work is an important element of multidisciplinary programmes in which capstone projects recreate the real-world demands of industries such as computer animation. Interdisciplinary groups bring realism to the capstone experience (Dugan, 2011). The importance of assessed group work in higher-level education, and the challenges involved were also highlighted in the author’s institution with the formation of a framework and guidelines for assessed group work (DkIT, 2016). The perception of fairness and consideration of individual contribution, for example, when assessing group work needs to be considered (MacFarlane, 2016; Noonan, 2013; Smith & Rogers, 2014; Tucker & Abbasi, 2016).
This article reports on a capstone project in 3D Computer Animation which is delivered in blended mode, and began in January 2018. Students work in small groups to create a 1-2 minute animation short movie or interactive experience, supervised by a team of two lecturers. Given that the module is 80% online supervision and face-to-face contact is limited to 2 hours every month, a well considered group assessment model has been introduced. Key stages of group formation, individual and group assessment components and monitoring and organising the groups needed to be considered in a mainly online delivery mode.
The core deliverables and technologies built on the lecturers’ experience in on-campus, undergraduate, team project modules. Monitoring and assessing the individual is achieved using online portfolios and reflective journals using Mahara. Scrum, an agile development process was introduced as a project management tool, empowering team members to estimate, prioritise and assign tasks. Students used of online tools, Scrumwise and Basecamp, to organise, plan and present their process remotely and transparently. Group meetings took place using Adobe Connect, Google Hangouts and face to face. An in depth evaluation of the module will be future work, but initial reflections of the supervision team will be presented.
Keywords:
Group work, blended learning
References
DkIT (2016). DkIT Assessed Group work: A framework and guidelines. Retrieved from https://www.dkit.ie/system/files/groupwork_framework_guidelines_2016.pdf [Accessed April 2018].
Dugan, R.F., 2011. A survey of computer science capstone course literature. Computer Science Education, 21 (3), pp.201–267.
Macfarlane, B., 2016. The performative turn in the assessment of student learning: a rights perspective. Teaching in Higher Education, 21(7), 839–853.
Noonan, M., 2013. The ethical considerations associated with group work assessments. Nurse Education Today, 33(11), 4122-4127.
Smith, M., & Rogers, J., 2014. Understanding nursing students’ perspectives on the grading of group work assessments. Nurse Education in Practice, 14(2), 112–116.
Tucker, R., & Abbasi, N., 2016. Bad attitudes: Why design students dislike teamwork. Journal of learning design, 9(1), 1-20.
