Abstract of work in-progress

Purpose: The focus of this paper is to review the benefits of experiential group projects in undergraduate business classes as well as issues arising from perceived fairness in grading among group members. After surveying relevant literature, the author draws on over a decade of experience assigning group experiential projects in business classes to discuss student and instructor reactions related to the fairness in the grading of group projects – especially in instances of perceived differences in group member effort, production and output quality.

Findings: Previous research has shown that while group projects benefit students, it is not uncommon for student groups to have members who are perceived to do less work than other group members during a project.  In such cases, team members - though often harboring a level of resentment - fail to report their concerns to the instructor.  Therefore, some students are allowed to benefit grade-wise beyond their own efforts due to the work of other group members.

Value to the academy: After a review of relevant literature, the author offers a multi-step grading system – honed by use in dozens of business classes – that has increased grading fairness within student groups while also incentivizing high quality contributions by each student in experiential group projects.