STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF SOCIAL TASK DEVELOPMENT IN ONLINE GROUP PROJECT WORK.

ONLINE education; COMPUTER assisted instruction; STUDENT projects; ACTIVITY programs in education; DISTANCE education; ABILITY grouping (Education); PROJECT method in teaching; TEACHING methods; DISTANCE education students; QUALITATIVE research

This article explores student perceptions of social task development in an online group project and poses recommendations for implementation of group projects. Qualitative methods were used to analyze student perceptions of social task development in online group project. Respect, "being nice," follow the rules/follow the leader, communication, and defined roles and expectations emerged as ways in which social tasks were carried out in an online group setting. Specific desired characteristics of group members were also identified. Instructors in online classes can build on this awareness by providing guidelines and tasks to support behaviors that enhance social task development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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