Improving Student Learning Outcomes Through Formally Structured Group Projects

Over the course of their work at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) the authors observed that their students had an especially hard time functioning well in groups, in the context of both video production and media studies classes. An example of the latter is Introduction to Contemporary Media (MES 152). This paper looks at innovations that the authors introduced to their respective sections of the course between Spring 2017 and Fall 2019. In MES 152 students typically work in groups to develop a major project over the course of the semester. Rather than having students work in groups without a predefined structure, Sayegh and Rigopoulos shifted their approach and structured the groups based on the advertising industry model. The students were given specific titles and interrelated duties (Project Manager, Researcher, Copywriter and Communications Manager.) Comparing student results and retention before and after the application of their method, the authors noticed clear improvements: For example, the percentage of students who failed to complete the course fell from 30% (Spring 2016-prior to the change) to 8% (Spring 2019) for Sayegh's sections. In that same period, the respective percentages in Rigopoulos's sections dropped from 25.93% to 11.54%. Corresponding improvements were also found in grade point average and student retention, among other metrics. These encouraging results indicate that a structured group approach is effective and could be tailored to other courses requiring collaboration among students.