Group work Energy and sustainability

Energy and Sustainability (28870)

Group contract
As you will find out, group work isn't always easy: group members sometimes cannot prepare for or
attend group sessions because of other responsibilities, and conflicts often result from differing skill
levels and work ethics. When groups work and communicate well, however, the benefits more than
compensate for the difficulties. One way to improve the chances that a team will work well is to
agree beforehand on what everyone on the team expects from everyone else. Reaching this
agreement is the goal of the group contract.
Make a new document your Group Contract - with information on the 8 topics below. This
document has to be uploaded before next Wednesday (9/9) at 12:00 as a Campusnet
Assignment with a document name equal to the group number, e.g. Group 1.
NB. All group members have to accept the contract on Campusnet.
1 GROUP MEMBERS INCLUDING CONTACT INFORMATION (e-mail, phone and student
number, etc.)
2- GROUP VALUES
Use the Ecological Paradigm questionnaire to summarise the beliefs and values of the group with
respect to relationship between humans and the environment. Find out what has influenced the
individual answers: specific events/experiences, people, work leisure activities etc. Find the
variation of the individual scores. Discuss what the score means.
3- GROUP COMPETENCES
Write a short description of the strengths and weaknesses of the group with respect to the learning
objectives of the course, especially your competences in different energy technologies.
4- ROLE OF GROUP MEMBERS
Who does what; will you chance the roles, etc ? You may use the description of roles next page.
5 GROUP MEETINGS
Try to be realistic
a) Time & place:
b) Rules for cancellations:
c) Minutes (do you write minutes? What would be its content and frequency?):
d) How to make decisions:
6 COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE GROUP
How to ensure that everybody always gets the necessary information? try to be realistic
a) Practical communication:
b) Subject-oriented communication:
7 - EFFORTS AND EXPECTATIONS
Be realistic!
a) Flex time (will you accept that not everybody can always participate in the group work):

Group work Energy and sustainability

b) Expectations (e.g. how many hours do you plan to work on this course):
c) Ownership (how will you assure that everybody contribute to the full reports? It is not possible to
indicate who has done what in the report):

8 PROBLEMS see also considerations below

a) How would you handle the situation that one of the group members is always late?
b) How would you handle the situation that one of the group members is a free rider?
c) How would you handle the fact that two group members have a bad relationship that influences
the group?

Roles in a group
Roles may be defined as:

Chair (Mdeleder) general management, makes sure everyone understands both the
solution and the strategy used to get it: To check for understanding in a way that means
something, ask for an explanation.
Moderator (Ordstyrer) keeps everyone on task and makes sure everyone is involved
Minutes keeper (Referent) writes minutes and follow up on the last minutes
Coordinator (Koordinator) coordinates activities between meetings, checks with
other group members before the meeting to remind them of when and where they will
meet and what they are supposed to do
Quality controller (Checker) administer the group documents, keeps the most
updated version of the text, checks text for accuracy and turns in the assignment before
deadline.

Individual preparation
Do the required individual preparation. Each group member should attempt to prepare
individual ideas/solutions/interpretations before the group meets.
The group may decide to have an individual effort evaluation of all group members by all
group members at the time when an Assignment is submitted, i.e. to fill out the
corresponding form to be found in folder All general information). This evaluation will
influence the individual score of the group members for that specific Assignment.
Principles for solving problems
Go to your teacher, if a conflict arises that cannot be solved by the group.
If a group member refuses to cooperate on an assignment, his/her name should not be
included on the completed work. If the non-cooperation continues, the group should meet
with the teacher so that the problem can be resolved, if possible. If no resolution is achieved,
the cooperating group members may notify the uncooperative member in writing that he/she
is in danger of being fired, sending a copy of the memo to the teacher. If there is no
subsequent improvement, they should notify the individual in writing (copy to their teacher)
that he/she is no longer with the team. The fired student should meet with the teacher to
discuss options.

Similarly, a student who is consistently doing all the work for their group may issue a
warning memo (copy to teacher) that he/she will quit unless more cooperation is

Group work Energy and sustainability

forthcoming, and a second memo (copy to teacher) if the non-cooperation continues. The
student who quits should meet with the teacher to discuss options.