GUIDELINES FOR WEEKLY MINUTES – Read This Aloud with Your Group!

Dear Study Group:

The main purpose of the Group Study Project is just that – to encourage group study. However, in order to maintain some quality control in terms of what your group is handing in throughout the course of the semester, I do have certain requirements that must be met for the Weekly Minutes.

  1. I would like the weekly minutes to be typed.
  2. You may use the “Weekly Minutes” sheet given as your template, or you can create your own format for your weekly minutes. Whichever format you choose, you must include the following elements:

- The week start and week ending dates (month/day of week’s start and month/day of week’s end)

-Day(s) and time(s) that the group met this week

-A thorough and detailed description of what your group did this week. Typically, I expect this to take at least a paragraph in order to properly describe the activities of your group.

-A statement describing where your group had the greatest difficulties this week.

-Any questions you have for the instructor this week.

-Any changes to your group’s ground rules that may have occurred.

-Each group member’s signature, verifying that each agrees that the weekly minutes are accurate.

  1. The weekly meeting time(s) must total NO LESS THAN two hours each week. No additional extra credit is earned by meeting for more than two hours, but you will not earn the full extra credit points if you meet for less than two hours.

Remember that the two hours of group study can include any combination of the following:

  1. Your group meets to study together, review notes, go over sample sets together, etc.
  2. Your group goes to the instructor’s office together to ask questions, clarify notes, get assistance in problem areas, etc.
  3. Your group goes to the “Collaborative Study” sessions together during Community Hour once a week (details will be given in class).
  1. You must turn in your “Weekly Minutes” from this week at the beginning of the first lecture of next week. If your class meets MW, then you must turn in the Minutes each Monday during class. If your class meets TR, you must turn in the Minutes each Tuesday during class.
  2. At the end of the semester, the full fifty points of extra credit will be awarded based on:

-Whether your group has turned in the Weekly Minutes each week. Points will be deducted if there are Weekly Minutes missing at the end of the semester.

-Whether your group has maintained the quality of the Weekly Minutes for the semester (poor quality minutes that I have received in the past say things like “Did sample sets 18 and 19,” as the entire description of what the group did together for two hours. While I understand that it is easy to “lose steam” at the end of the semester, be warned now that this is unacceptable work and will not earn your group the full measure of extra credit points).

As a final note, there has been occasional confusion in the past regarding what is appropriate for group study and what is not. In particular, I have had students who type a written (INDIVIDUAL) homework assignment together, print multiple copies with different student’s names at the top, and then turn in the work. IN MY CLASS, this is NOT appropriate for the individual writing assignments. If I give a writing assignment, it is often as a way to assess not only your knowledge of economics, but also as a way to assess your thinking and writing skills. Therefore, I suggest that you follow these guidelines:

It is virtually always appropriate in this class (with the notable exception of individual exams) to discuss ideas together. This means that brainstorming about a writing assignment before working on it is a perfectly appropriate use of the group’s time during group study. This is a great way to get clarification about instructions or about what the teacher is looking for in an assignment.

Since PLAGIARISM is presenting someone else’s work as one’s own, handing in a written assignment that has anyone’s writing besides your own (without properly acknowledging that source), is a sure way to get ZERO credit for any assignment in this course. The ONLY exception to this rule is if we are working on a group assignment.

REMEMBER, RESEARCH SHOWS THAT STUDENTS WHO ENGAGE IN GROUP STUDY RECEIVE, ON AVERAGE, HIGHER GRADES THAN THOSE WHO STUDY ALONE . . .

Happy Studying!!

Mary McGlasson

WEEKLY MINUTES

SUNDAY,______TO SATURDAY,______

(Week Start Date) (Week Ending Date)

This week, our group met at the following time(s):

Day(s):Meeting Convened:Meeting Adjourned:

______

______

______

In our group this week, we . . . :

We had the most difficulty this week with:

This week, we would like to ask the instructor about . . . :

This week, we have the following changes to the group’s ground rules:

When each group member has read the group minutes and agrees that they are true and complete, please sign below.

Member Signatures:

______

______