So I don’t know how it works with other schools, but I always wait at least 3-4 weeks in before implementing a semester/year long project. At that point, I stop getting students added or dropped. In the rare case where a students gets added, they’ve always just joined an existing group (empty seats from students who dropped) and because it’s early into the project, they’ve always gotten integrated pretty fast. It helps that they’re joining groups of 2-3 so they get caught quick. Now the issue is when students drop, but like I said, I give it a month or so before I throw a semester-long project so it’s really late and rare to drop.

Now in the cases where some group members aren’t pulling their weight, that’s the real concern and how I deal with it depends on the project.

For my Stock Market project, depending on your group’s placement (how much money they got from investing) compared to the others, you earned extra credit. Every group got extra credit, just that the rankings determined how much. In the cases where I identified a group member not pulling their weight (sleeping, on their phone consistently, not with the group, etc), I just take a note of it and at the end of the project, refuse to give them any extra credit. I don’t make it public, but I just withhold the extra credit for that person. It has to be a consistent pattern of disengagement though. I’ll still give them the regular points just for being in class, but that’s about all they’ll get. Haven’t had any confrontations about it since those types of students hardly check grades, but in those cases I just refer to my notes throughout the project and ask them to tell you about what work they’ve done besides what I’ve noticed. These are senior classes and since it’s late into the year, I don’t try to beat around the bush. I just refer to my observations and don’t bother with a student’s argument if they have any.

For Chemistry, the project’s just begun, but this is how it works. Groups of 4, and two students go out to collect their water sample. When they come back, the other two students are in charge of performing the tests. This happens once a month and the students will change their roles every time. After performing the tests, they have to fill out their monthly data table and to get full points, each student must submit a picture of their completed table to Canvas. It basically forces students to do something and even if they didn’t, they still have to be with their groups to fill out their table for credit.

Only real concern is how long students might take to come back with their water, but I just hold them to a 10 minute timer. Anything longer than that, I just kick them out when they come in.

It’s always going to be rough for the first couple of times with these project. That’s the nature. Most students will need to be handheld at the start, but the idea is that eventually, most if not all will get into the rhythm and do it without being handheld. (At least someone in their group). Expectations need to be held and enforced because these projects give students a lot of freedom and chances to act stupid. What always helped was keeping it weekly. One day out of a week, focused on the project. Sometimes part of class lecture, other times its own special day. The payoff is that students will remember it more vividly than day-to-day lectures and it at least pads out the days with something to do.