Group Expectations

Expectations

We expect that members of groups will contribute to the group effort as equal participants. This means:

• Setting and fulfilling expectations that are fairly agreed upon by the group;
• Contributing to discussions and the generation of ideas (note: these contributions don’t have to be good, necessarily; brainstorming will necessarily involve throwing out half-baked ideas, but this is still a contribution);
• Contributing to the analysis and writing efforts (at minimum, reading, understanding, and agreeing to everything submitted);
• Communicating actively and proactively about statuses and challenges.

Every member of a group will be evaluated on these bases at the end of the semester by their groupmates, which could influence their grade.

Recommended Practices

To facilitate these contributions, we recommend the following practices (though specifics may vary depending on the group):

• Clearly set expectations and timelines for each group members’ contributions (for example, create a schedule or a Gantt chart), including backup plans if unexpected challenges or circumstances arise during the semester;
• Use collaborative writing and coding/code-sharing platforms (e.g. Google Docs, Overleaf, and GitHub) to update work frequently and solicit feedback from group members;
• Schedule regular meetings for updates on status and progress;
• Seek advice from the course staff proactively if challenges emerge that might compromise your plan or timeline.