Writing Tasks Suited to Group Work
Fact and Fiction: Common Fears about Group Work
My individual ideas will be lost...
I could write it better myself...
My grade will depend on what others do...
Group work will take more time than if I did it myself...
My group members aren't as smart as I am...
I don't have time to meet out of class...
Idea-Generating and Research Tasks
Gather to Write Together
Writing together is efficient in that groups can sometimes make better decisions than individuals. Consequently, fewer drafts might be required. However, this kind of true collaborative writing, especially in larger groups, can be very difficult and time consuming. You may need to spend more time working together. Consider the following:
- How well this works depends a great deal on how comfortable you are with each other and if you're willing to correct and suggest in the middle of someone writing.
- Don't get caught up in arguments about sentence structure, word choice, etc. This is only a first draft and trying to be too "perfect" during the writing will increase the writing time exponentially.
- Plan more than one meeting for the drafting; writing like this cannot be done in one sitting.
- Leave time to critique the draft and make revisions. Writing together is not a substitute for revision.