Report #3
FIPP Activity Report
Funded by the Basic Skills Initiative
Name Christina Gold
Date 1/29/10
FIPP Partner Juli Soden
Section # History 1B, 2312 and History 122, 2389
Activity /Strategy Group Contract
Category Classroom Expectations
Briefly describe the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction The purpose of the Group Contract is to help groups work
more effectively by managing everyone's expectations and tracking
performance. The Group Contract helps students develop group
cohesiveness and prevent conflict. Discussion groups in History 1B and
History 122 developed Group Contracts. The groups are switched once in
the semester, so the task was completed 4 times in my classes.
2. Set up & Supplies Desks moved into a circle. Handout with copy of the student
contract included in the course reader.
3. Directions
1. Place the students into groups of 5 or 6.
2. Have each student refer to the group contract handout in the course reader.
3. The handout asks students to brainstorm attitudes and behaviors that would
contribute to the group's success and failure. Students discuss and list these.
4. Students develop 3 rules for the group to follow.
5. The contract is signed by all students, turned in, reviewed by the Instructor.
Contracts are returned to the groups the next class.
6. After meeting 3 times, the groups conduct a self-evaluation of their adherence
to the rules and consider what they are doing well and what they need to
improve.
7. Half way through the semester, students are placed in a new group, and the
process is repeated.
4. Conclusion The contract is designed to minimize the problems that arrise during
group work, particularly concerns about fairness.
What worked well? There was a broader participation in the group discussions. There
seeemed to be fewer students who refused to participate at all. More students
volunteered to write group answers, rather than relying on the same person each time.
What would you change? In their evaluations of this activity, student comments
suggested that many students were evaluating the use of discussion groups, rather than
the use of group contracts. They revealed that they continue to be frustrated by the lack
of even participation in the groups. I need to revise my contract, by more carefully
reviewing my partner Juli Soden's contract and incorporating her good ideas.
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? Yes. It is a helpful tool for
groups to use to maintain respectful and productive progress in their group work. It
encouarged more students to participate.
Please describe any student learning outcomes/changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy.
Although this activity does not directly address any of the history program or course-level SLOs,
it did allow students be more effective in their groups when analyzing primary documents,
discussing content, and developing related historical arguments.