Advice for Designing Group Writing Assignments
Advantages of a group writing assignment:
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Decreases instructor workload since there are fewer essays to respond to
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Gives students practice with important workplace writing skills
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Helps develop classroom community
Advice for creating successful group writing assignments:
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Give each group member an individual as well as a group role.
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Ask group members to evaluate each individual’s performance and contribution and consider this feedback in your evaluation of the groups.
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Create a series of deadlines for stages of the group writing process (for example, a project proposal, an annotated bibliography, a rough draft, etc.).
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Allow time for groups to meet in class.
Possible Group Member Roles for Students:
Group leader
The group leader oversees the project and facilitates communication between the group members. The group leader is also responsible for ensuring that writing deadlines are met and that each group member is contributing.
Lead writer
Although each group member should contribute to the writing of the content of the project, the lead writer may do more of the writing than the other members, either by taking on a bigger section or by helping with the final revisions of each section.
Editor
The editor focuses on sentence-level and format issues, such as grammar, sentence structure, and citations.
Reviewer
Ideally, each member should be part of the review and revising process, but the reviewer can play a greater role as a responder to drafts of each member’s writing.
Researcher
The researcher gathers data and outside sources. Although each member may participate in researching the topic, the researcher is responsible for making sure an adequate amount of research has been done.
Graphic design person
The graphic design person is in charge of charts, images, graphs, etc.