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@hayBEARS I teach game design. Interdisciplinary collaboration is a key professional skill and I'd be doing my students a disservice if I didn't prepare them for that reality. But - I also structure the class to protect students from potential pitfalls.
@hayBEARS 1. Assignments can be split up into pieces. The team can decide if they want to work together on all pieces, or split things up into sub-teams that work well together.
@hayBEARS 2. Team 360s at the end of each assignment. Every student says what every student contributed, and calls out "great citizenship" and "areas of concern" as needed. I explicitly use this to adjust grades.
@hayBEARS 3. Class culture. 25% of the class grade is citizenship - which means everything from class participation to helping your peers with playtests to being there for your team. Students typically love the chance to be in a generous, sharing culture.
@hayBEARS 4. Non-zero-sum grading. I tell students the first day that my goal is to give everyone in the class an A, because that means that I've taught them the things they need to learn. It fosters non-competition.
@hayBEARS 5. Separate theory, process, and product grades. For each assignment, 1/3 is "what were you trying to do & did it build on course materials," 1/3 is about what you learned and tested, and 1/3 is for the final outcome.
@hayBEARS 6. In-class modeling of team and process skills. For example, we spend time in class on listening to identify the real concern underneath what someone is saying on the surface.
@hayBEARS 7. Three month-long projects with reshuffled teams each time. Students get more autonomy to choose their teams with each project. I've never had a saboteur, but students tend to find peers at their same level of commitment to the class by project 2 or certainly 3.
@hayBEARS 8. Build relationships between students. I don't assign graded group work until students have already worked together for several weeks in class and are treating each other with respect.
@hayBEARS 9. Extensive written feedback. Because I assign group projects, I give each team 3-5 pages of written feedback with ratings for each aspect of the project, in lieu of a single grade. I don't assign grades until the last day of the course so I can take team issues into account.
@hayBEARS 10. Provide incentives beyond the grade. For example, for each project, I have students present to a mixed academia-industry panel. Getting real feedback from professionals is highly motivating - and no student wants to look like a jerk in front of potential employers.
@hayBEARS @threadreaderapp unroll
