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One Approach to Formulating and Evaluating Student Work Groups in Legal Environment of Business Courses
Author(s) -
Camara Joan E.,
Carr B. Nathaniel,
Grota Barbara L.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of legal studies education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1744-1722
pISSN - 0896-5811
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-1722.2007.00032.x
Subject(s) - principal (computer security) , set (abstract data type) , task group , task (project management) , psychology , work (physics) , mathematics education , group work , homogeneous , focus group , point (geometry) , student achievement , academic achievement , marketing , management , engineering , computer science , business , mathematics , engineering management , economics , mechanical engineering , geometry , combinatorics , programming language , operating system
The principal focus of this study is an investigation of whether students' grade point average (GPA) is a viable criterion for forming student work groups in the undergraduate Legal Environment of Business course. More specifically, the research focuses on the impact of: (1) GPA‐homogeneous (HO) and GPA‐heterogeneous (HE) groups upon student satisfaction with group processes and (2) the impact on individual student performance in both group and nongroup assignments. Data obtained from fourteen HE and fourteen HO student groups, in four separate Legal Environment of Business classes consisting of a mix of Management, Marketing, Computer Information Systems, International Business, Financial Services, and Accounting majors, generated a number of significant results. The most surprising observations dealt with the behavior of low achievers whose individual grades showed substantial improvement after working in HO groups. Researchers who are assessing pedagogical methods which serve to engage a student's active learning and motivation should find these results to be of interest. In addition, the beneficial impact on task and relationship behaviors observed in this study should provide solace or a sense of reward to the larger set of academicians, across disciplines, who attempt to impart realistic organizational skills to their classes.