- Development of higher-level thinking, oral communication, self-management, and leadership skills.
- Promotion of student-faculty interaction.
- Increase in student retention, self-esteem, and responsibility.
- Exposure to and an increase in understanding of diverse perspectives.
- Preparation for real life social and employment situations.
- Helping students develop a rapport with each other before starting an assignment
- Setting clear rules that explain and differentiate the difference between group participation and individual contributions.
- Providing opportunities or resources for students to develop the necessary skills for success team-building exercises. This includes:
- Guidance on how to solve conflicts
- Resources on how to develop better communication skills
- Assistance with organization and planning
- Support on general decision making activities.
The Best Practices for Inclusive Teaching in Yale Computer Science Guide recommends that the course syllabus include a collaboration and academic honesty policy that clarifies expectations for assignments. The guide includes three sample policies (pgs. 11-13), each allowing different levels of collaboration for different types of classes. These samples are modeled on existing policies provided by CS faculty at Yale.
The guide also references using consistent language throughout the department in order to reduce confusion from students, while acknowledging that it may be valuable to add to or modify the beginning of the section to provide some motivation for the policy that is specific to the learning goals for the course.
Lastly, it explains that it is helpful to make clear in the syllabus as well as through class discussion and assignment directions, whether the instructor employs different collaboration policies for different types of assignments (e.g., working in groups on projects, but not on problem sets). Doing so may reduce the instances of students violating academic integrity policies in courses.
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