I have also allowed cheat sheets in the past, but have decided NOT to do
it any longer. I think most of the students spend too much time trying to
write EVERYTHING down without thinking about it, assuming they'll have the
information in front of them during the RAT so they don't have to "know"
anything. This seems more of a problem at the introductory
(freshman/sophomore) level than for juniors and seniors who are better at
studying and note taking.
I haven't actually calculated whether or not there is a statistically
significant difference, but in a quick comparison of grades on the same
RAT across different semesters, with and without cheat sheets, there
doesn't appear to be any difference. It makes the students more
comfortable to have the cheat sheet, but I think it ends up wasting time
for the majority of students, again, particularly for younger students, in
my experience.
Molly Espey
> I've read some material on the design and use of the group assignments
> (three S's, etc.), but I would sure like to have a better handle on the
> actual mechanics of reporting and evaluating the group decisions. The
> document "Designing Effective Group Activities: Lessons for Classroom
> Teaching and Faculty Development" by Michaelson, et al., takes the
> position
> that grading the GAs is not likely to be desireable for a number of
> reasons.
> They feel that the social pressure of inter-team discussion of the team
> decisions is likely to provide the greatest motivation for excellence.
>
> So after getting the simultaneous report of the decisions, I see that I
> must
> question the teams and facilitate discussion to bring out the reasoning
> behind the decisions.
>
> But do you require anything in writing from each team other than yes or
> no;
> A, B, or C, or whatever?
>
> Do you find that the open discussion provides enough motivation for
> excellence, or do you add something else?
>
> Lane
> ---
> Lane P. Lester, Ph.D.
> Biology Instructor
> Southwestern Community College
> Macon Campus, Franklin, NC
>
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