rubrics for group activity problem solving

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Sample group work rubric

Problem-Based Learning Clearinghouse of Activities, University of Delaware

Feel free to modify this sample rubric for assessing group work to meet your teaching needs.

Example of Group Work Rubric
Skills	4 Advanced - Exceeds expectations	3 Competent - Meets expectations	2 Progressing - Does not fully meet expectations	1 Beginning - Does not meet expectations
Contributions, Attitude	Always willing to help and do more. Routinely offered useful ideas. Always displays positive attitude.	Cooperative. Usually offered useful ideas. Generally displays positive attitude.	Sometimes cooperative. Sometimes offered useful ideas. Rarely displays positive attitude.	Seldom cooperative. Rarely offers useful ideas. Is disruptive.
Cooperation with Others	Did more than others–highly productive. Works extremely well with others. Never argues.	Did their part of the work-cooperative. Works well with others. Rarely argues.	Could have done more of the work–has difficulty. Requires structure, directions, and leadership. Argues sometimes.	Did not do any work–does not contribute. Does not work well with others. Usually argues with teammates.
Focus, Commitment	Tries to keep people working together. Almost always focused on the task and what needs to be done. Is very self-directed.	Does not cause problems in the group. Focuses on the task and what needs to be done most of the time. Can count on this person.	Sometimes not a good team member. Sometimes focuses on the task and what needs to be done. Must be prodded and reminded to keep on task.	Often is not a good team member. Does not focus on the task and what needs to be done. Lets others do the work.
Team Role Fulfillment	Participated in all group meetings. Assumed leadership role as necessary. Did the work that was assigned by the group.	Participated in most group meetings. Provided leadership when asked. Did most of the work assigned by the group.	Participated in some group meetings. Provided some leadership. Did some of the work assigned by the group.	Participated in few or no group meetings. Provided no leadership. Did little or no work assigned by the group.
Ability to Communicate	Always listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Provided effective feedback to other members. Relays a great deal of information–all relates to the topic.	Usually listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Sometimes talks too much. Provided some effective feedback to others. Relays some basic information–most relates to the topic.	Often listens to, shares with, and supports the efforts of others. Usually does most of the talking–rarely listens to others. Provided little feedback to others. Relays very little information–some relates to the topic.	Rarely listens to, shares with, or supports the efforts of others. Is always talking and never listens to others. Provided no feedback to others. Does not relay any information to teammates.
Correctness	Work is complete, well organized, has no errors and is done on time or early.	Work is generally complete, meets the requirements of the task, and is mostly done on time.	Work tends to be disorderly, incomplete, not accurate, and is usually late.	Work is generally sloppy and incomplete, has excessive errors and is mostly late or not at all.
Total Score:

Group Problem Solving

Students are given a problem to solve. This problem can be just about anything from esoteric philosophical issues to mathematics. The goal is to come up with a solution to the problem. In some cases, the solution will be tested and reported on.

Stern, M. (1995). Visions for a sustainable city: Owings Mills, MD . http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/stern/

Goals and Objectives

The goals of group problem solving are to develop the students ability to solve problems in the given context. Goals can also include building team skills, experience testing solutions, evaluative skills among alternatives, etc. Sample objective statements include:

During and after performing the Group Problem Solving activity, students will…

develop group problem solving skills,
interpret facts and propose solutions,
recognize key facets of a problem situation,
identify motives creating a problem situation,
outline a course of action,

…as determined by successfully attending to 80% of rubric items.

Materials and Resources

The instructor must present the students with the problem. This may include access to numerous background materials. The instructor should also provide a group discussion area for each group and clear guidelines on their activities.

Guiding Questions for this Lesson

As with most activities, the guiding question will depend on the purpose. For example, if group skills is the primary purpose, the guiding questions might be how well can students work together to resolve issue x? Another guiding question might be, how effectively can a student group address the given problem?

Lesson Outline and Procedure

Either pre-select of allow self selection of students into groups. Groups of 3-5 are usually effective in online education activities.
Present students with the problem to be solved and any background materials needed to begin solving the problem.
Provide time for group formation. Follow the groups communications very closely at the beginning to make sure that everything starts off well.
If it is a long process, have the groups submit progress reports.
Final group solutions may be submitted to the instructor or the class for peer review and comments.
In some cases, students may test out their solution and report on the results as a stage 2 process to the group problem solving activity.
Assess both individual and group performance.

Teaching Strategies

Group work is a fickle fiend in online education. Resources are provided below regarding effectively implementing online group work.
If groups have already been used in the course, the same groups may be maintained to reduce group formation time.
Do not present the students with too much information at the beginning. In other words, give them enough to guide them to the solution without actually telling them the solution.
Use problems that have multiple or complex solutions so as to more effectively make use of group synergy relationships. Easy problems do not require group work.

Accommodations

What accommodations may be needed for students with disabilities or other special needs? The primary accommodation will involve communication changes as needed for those with disabilities to actively and effectively participate in the group activity. Other accommodations may be needed depending on the nature of the problem to be solved.

The time required to complete a group problem solving exercise can very widely. Small groups could be formed in a synchronous session and given 10 minutes to come up with a problem solution. In most cases, for a class activity involving group work, at least 3 days should be given for group formation in an online course. An additional week may be needed for the group to meet and address the problem. 3-5 more days would be needed for the group to compose and submit a problem response. These would be average times that will vary by the needs of the exercise.

Ideas for Lesson Evaluation and Teacher Reflection

How did the students like the lesson? End of semester evaluations should ask about the usefulness and learning accomplished through such activities. Also, the conversation that occurs during the activity will help guage how the students are enjoying various aspects and whether they are learning and/or participating.

Questions the instructor should ask when evaluating the lesson include: Were the students engaged in efficiently working together? Does the solution actually address the problem? Is there creativity in the solution? Is the solution feasible? How quickly did they arrive at a solution?

How was student learning verified? Participation can be assessed in discussion sessions. A rubric can also be set up to help guage the quality of final work.

Sample rubrics for group work available online:

Useful Online References on Group Work in General

Austin, D., & Mescia, M. D. (n.d.). Strategies to incorporate active learning into online teaching . from http://www.icte.org/T01_Library/T01_245.pdf
Lopez-Ortiz, B. I., & Lin, L. (2005, February). What makes an online group project work? Students’ perceptions before and after an online collaborative problem/project-based learning (PBL) experience. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, 2 (2). from http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Feb_05/article04.htm

A Few Books with Information on Group Work Online

Harasim, L. (2007). Assessing online collaborative learning: A theory, methodology, and toolset. In B. H. Khan (Ed.). Flexible learning in an information society . pp. 282-293. Hershey, PA: Information Science Publishing.
Horton, W. (2000). Designing Web-based training . New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Ko, S., & Rossen, S. (2001). Teaching online: A practical guide . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.
Nicolay, J. A. (2002). Group assessment in the on-line learning environment. In R. S. Anderson, J. F. Bauer, & B. W. Speck (Eds.). Assessment strategies for the on-line class: From theory to practice . pp. 43-52. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (1999). Building learning communities in cyberspace: Effective strategies for the online classroom . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Palloff, R. M., & Pratt, K. (2001). Lessons from the cyberspace classroom: The realities fo online teaching . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Salmon, G. (2002). e-tivities: The key to active online learning . London: Kogan Page Limited.

Problem-Solving — Rubric

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Rubric Example: Problem-Solving

Rubric example
Points	10	7	3	0
Quality of post	The solution used the defined model effectively. The rationale was clear and logical. Your solution was well-argued.	The solution used the model adequately. The rationale was unclear, and the solution was not presented effectively or persuasively.	The solution did not apply the model correctly. The solution was not clear or the logic was flawed.	Solution insufficiently developed; or not posting
Quality of response	Analysis and critique of the solution were thorough and fair.	Analysis and critique of the solution were biased or flawed.	Analysis and critique did not provide substantive materials for the group to use in reviewing the solution.	No effort in the analysis or critique of the solution, or no comment posted.

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Problem-Solving — Example
Affordances of Online Discussions
Steps for Building an Online Asynchronous Discussion
Using Online Discussions to Increase Student Engagement

Keywords	rubric, problem-solving, online, discussion	Doc ID	103923
Owner	Timmo D.	Group	Instructional Resources
Created	2020-07-13 12:55:18	Updated	2024-08-23 15:32:25
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Site navigation, problem solving skills rubric.

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Problem Solving Methodology*

0. engage in the problem (motivation).

I can do it!
I want to do it!
I spend sufficient amount of time thinking about and working on the problem.
I do it because I realize the importance of developing problem-solving skills.

1. Define the problem - Rubric for evaluating your performance on Step 1

Read the problem statement again
Define what the problem states in a way that makes sense to you
Sketch the information given in the problem
List what is given / known
List any constraints
Define a criterion for judging the final product (design) / answering the question (problem)
Determine the real objective of the problem (e.g. what do I need to calculate?)

2. Explore the problem - Rubric for evaluating your performance on Step 2

Examine any issues involved
Make all the necessary assumptions that will help you simplify the problem enough, so you can solve it using familiar theories.
Guestimate the answer
Albert Einstein quote

3. Plan the solution - Rubric for evaluating your performance on Step 3

Select appropriate theory, principles, approach
Map out any sub-problems
List what needs to be found
Write down all equations you need to carry out each step of the solution but do not substitute any numbers
Draw free-body diagrams and control volumes as necessary

4. Implement the plan - Rubric for evaluating your performance on Step 4

Substitute numbers into equations as necessary and carry out all calculations
You may want to calculate several intermediate numerical results to make sure they make sense; it is difficult to pinpoint an error when all you have is the final numerical result and you know it can't be right!

5. Check the solution

Check the accuracy of the calculations (redo)
Check the units of the calculated parameters

6. Evaluate / Reflect on the Solution as well as on your Problem - Solving Process - Rubric for evaluating your performance on Step 6

Is the answer reasonable? Does it make sense?
Were the assumptions appropriate?
How does it compare to guestimate?
How could you improve your model to increase its accuracy?
If appropriate, ask the question: is it socially / ethically acceptable?
What were my strengths in solving this problem?
What were my weaknesses in solving this problem?
In what specific ways can I work on my weaknesses and improve my problem-solving skills?

*Woods D.R., Hrymak, A.N., Marshall, R.R., Wood, P.E., Crowe, C.M., Hoffman, T.W., Wright, J.D., Taylor, P.A., Woodhouse, K.A., Bouchard, C.G.K., Developing problem-solving skills: The McMaster problem-solving program. ASEE J of Engng Educ., 86, 2, 75-91 (1997).

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COMMENTS

Problem Solving VALUE Rubric - Duke University
Activities that encompass problem-solving by students may involve problems that range from well-defined to ambiguous in a simulated or laboratory context, or in real-world settings. This rubric distills the common elements of most problem-solving contexts and is designed to function across
Simplified Rubric for Assessing PROBLEM SOLVING
Student demonstrates a limited ability to identify a problem statement and approaches for solving the problem, provides vague and cursory solutions that do not directly address a problem, and reviews results superficially with no consideration of need for further work.
RUBRICS & SCORING CRITERIA: GUIDELINES & EXAMPLES
The best rubrics: 1. Are sufficiently generic to relate to general goals beyond an individual performance task but specific enough to enable useful and sound inferences on the task. 2. Discriminate among performances validly, not arbitrarily - by the central features of performance, not by the easiest to see, count, or score.
Sample group work rubric | Center for Teaching Innovation
Sample group work rubric. Engaging Students. Feel free to modify this sample rubric for assessing group work to meet your teaching needs.
Guide to Scoring Rubrics - UC Davis School of Education
When creating a task-specific analytic rubric, start by drawing the rubric on a whiteboard or poster and have them come up with the language to express what is required. This writing rubric below is a simplified example that a teacher might use for an elementary assignment.
Creative Thinking VALUE Rubric - University of California ...
rubric is made up of a set of attributes that are common to creative thinking across disciplines. Examples of work samples or collections of work that could be assessed for creative thinking may include research papers, lab reports, musical compositions, a mathematical equation that solves a problem, a prototype design , a reflective piece ...
Group Problem Solving - University of Illinois Springfield
develop group problem solving skills, interpret facts and propose solutions, recognize key facets of a problem situation, identify motives creating a problem situation, outline a course of action, …as determined by successfully attending to 80% of rubric items.
In-Class Group Work Assessment - University of Tennessee
Monitor and moderate group activity through regular check-ins to ensure students are staying on target, frequent formative assessment using appropriate and usable rubrics to provide quick and practical feedback, and large group Q&A sessions to understand common misconceptions and address lingering questions.
Problem-Solving — Rubric - University of Wisconsin ...
Rubric to assess the use of problem-solving in an online discussion to facilitate the integration and documentation of student learning.
Problem Solving Skills Rubric | People | San Jose State ...
1. Define the problem - Rubric for evaluating your performance on Step 1. Read the problem statement again. Define what the problem states in a way that makes sense to you. Sketch the information given in the problem. List what is given / known. List any constraints.