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Video Transcript^[1]:  Can the way you assign students to teams in group projects change the outcome of the students’ work together?

In this video, you will explore the pros and cons of different strategies for forming teams when assigning group projects.

There are three main strategies that instructors use when forming teams for group projects.

1. Allowing students to choose their own teams.
2. Randomly assigning students to teams, AND
3. Assigning students to teams strategically

Which of these strategies is most effective?

Several studies have found that allowing students to choose their own teams can be more effective than putting students into instructor-selected groups.  This is because students often already have relationships with one another, and are likely to fulfill their commitments to the group.  Students selected groups also have a lower incidence of conflict.

But there’s a but…

Most of these studies compare student selected groups with random groups.  What about the third option – assigning students to teams strategically?  In 2018, Lora Harding conducted a study where she surveyed students at the beginning of the course.  She asked them about their motivation level on the project, as well as their schedules and available time.  Students were grouped with other students with similar levels of motivation and schedules.  She found that this improved student performance and decreased social loafing.  Why might this be?

Sometimes, students who are juggling multiple commitments might legitimately struggle to make group meetings, through no ill-will of their own.  By grouping them with other students with similar needs, they are less likely to face conflict over time commitment to the project.

This strategy also recognizes the differences in student motivation.  Some students may view the course as central to their study or career goals, and be highly motivated to put a great deal of work into the project.  By grouping these students with similarly motivated others, they are less likely to be frustrated with what they perceive as the lesser contributions of others.  The scenario where this student does the work for others is less likely to occur. There may also be similar benefits to grouping students by ability or skill sets.

What other factors might instructors want to consider?  Smaller groups, for example, groups of 2-3 students, are often more effective than larger groups.  In addition, students sometimes share that they prefer instructor assigned groups, as they remove the pressure of working with friends who might not be a good fit for the project, and the fear of being left without a group.

So, what’s the takeaway?  Even though student-selected groups are better than random groups, there are some strong benefits to strategic instructor selected groups.  What criteria would you use to group students together for group projects in your course.