Introducing “captaining”: How to best combine group work with individual achievement within higher education examination

This paper deals with the problem of making group work and individual achievement meet in the context of combined examination at universities. The underlying idea of this research derives from the policy that is increasingly gaining power at many university departments, namely that it is inappropria...

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Main Author: Mirek Dymitrow
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Journal of Pedagogical Research 2020-04-01
Series:Journal of Pedagogical Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.ijopr.com/download/introducing-captaining-how-to-best-combine-group-work-with-individual-achievement-within-higher-6447.pdf
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author Mirek Dymitrow
author_facet Mirek Dymitrow
author_sort Mirek Dymitrow
collection DOAJ
description This paper deals with the problem of making group work and individual achievement meet in the context of combined examination at universities. The underlying idea of this research derives from the policy that is increasingly gaining power at many university departments, namely that it is inappropriate to examine students on the basis of group work alone, while at the same time limited departmental resources cannot allow for increasing the number of individual examinations. This paper attempts to square this paradox by elaborating on new ways to individualize compulsory group work so that it fulfils both formal and educational objectives, but also so it feels meaningful, motivative and fair to the students. This multifaceted challenge is captured in a novel methodological approach named “captaining”. By drawing on existing theoretical frameworks, own experiences and subsequent evaluation, “captaining” is presented as a promising alternative to the individualism vs. collectivism dilemma, as well as to extra-educational factors impacting the implementation of best examination practices.
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spelling doaj.art-9fefbc0bc0964b4689552a1887b5bae42023-08-02T07:04:24ZengJournal of Pedagogical ResearchJournal of Pedagogical Research2602-37172020-04-0141577010.33902/JPR.2020057987Introducing “captaining”: How to best combine group work with individual achievement within higher education examinationMirek Dymitrow0University of Gothenburg, Sweden; Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden; Lund University, SwedenThis paper deals with the problem of making group work and individual achievement meet in the context of combined examination at universities. The underlying idea of this research derives from the policy that is increasingly gaining power at many university departments, namely that it is inappropriate to examine students on the basis of group work alone, while at the same time limited departmental resources cannot allow for increasing the number of individual examinations. This paper attempts to square this paradox by elaborating on new ways to individualize compulsory group work so that it fulfils both formal and educational objectives, but also so it feels meaningful, motivative and fair to the students. This multifaceted challenge is captured in a novel methodological approach named “captaining”. By drawing on existing theoretical frameworks, own experiences and subsequent evaluation, “captaining” is presented as a promising alternative to the individualism vs. collectivism dilemma, as well as to extra-educational factors impacting the implementation of best examination practices.https://www.ijopr.com/download/introducing-captaining-how-to-best-combine-group-work-with-individual-achievement-within-higher-6447.pdfexaminationgroup workindividual taskcaptaining
spellingShingle Mirek Dymitrow
Introducing “captaining”: How to best combine group work with individual achievement within higher education examination
Journal of Pedagogical Research
examination
group work
individual task
captaining
title Introducing “captaining”: How to best combine group work with individual achievement within higher education examination
title_full Introducing “captaining”: How to best combine group work with individual achievement within higher education examination
title_fullStr Introducing “captaining”: How to best combine group work with individual achievement within higher education examination
title_full_unstemmed Introducing “captaining”: How to best combine group work with individual achievement within higher education examination
title_short Introducing “captaining”: How to best combine group work with individual achievement within higher education examination
title_sort introducing captaining how to best combine group work with individual achievement within higher education examination
topic examination
group work
individual task
captaining
url https://www.ijopr.com/download/introducing-captaining-how-to-best-combine-group-work-with-individual-achievement-within-higher-6447.pdf
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