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Hi Marina,

I used to grade AEs but now I don't. And I don't have any issue with student engagement either.

Back when I used to grade AEs I also had a fair but predictable way of choosing the reporter for each AE. 

I found that when AEs are graded, the team focuses on getting the right answer and this leads to the more-able students doing most of the talking and the less-able students deferring. The latter would be more engaged when they knew they had to be the reporter but would otherwise remain pretty passive.

I have created a pretty effective set of incentives to motivate full participation and maximize learning for my undergraduate students. Now, I give the students in all the teams all the points for the AEs on the first day of class. Students keep all those points (ten to fifteen percent of their final grade) unless their team reporter ever is at a loss to explain the team's reasoning for the answer they select. All technical support necessary for the answer must be in the team reporter's notes that they often have to bring to the doc cam. If ever the reporter cannot present the reasoning, then every student on the team loses a point -- usually one percent of their final grade. It was rare before but now I never get comments like, "We just guessed." or "Ask team mate x to explain. I can't."

I don't pick a reporter for any exercise until after the team choices are made. Right before the report. So now the focus of team work is not only on getting the right answer but also on making sure that every student on the team can explain the team's reasoning and has the correct technical work in their notes.

Each student has a number next to their name on the team folder and I spin a roulette wheel to let fate determine who reports. (Spinny Wheel app for the ipad has customizable wheels. I have wheels with the number of team members on them. Also wheels with the number of teams on them for occasions when most teams pick the same answer. Of course, I try to avoid that but there is still plenty of challenge for many students to explain the reasoning behind the consensus answer.) The wheel spin adds an element of fun to every report, too.

I should add that I very often use AEs that have multiple defensible answers.

Regards,

Phil

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