Overview of groups forming methods for long student's project

Abstract

Lecturing is one of the most traditional methods for teaching in university which can be lacking of interaction and real life application. This is a reason to transition to small groups with objectives of project development are appearing in the end of many master thesis programs. These project-based courses are created for better prepare student engineers for engineering work practices. Starting from 1990s, project-based courses has become a regular part of most undergraduate engineering programs. In these courses, small groups provide opportunity for students to engage actively with learning, to enhance practical skills, and to develop 21 century skills such as critical thinking, oral communication, and collaboration. Consequently, all academic staff involved in supporting and supervising group-based student projects sometimes face problems in forming effective groups. This becomes even more difficult when the life of the group project spans between 2 to 10 months. Therefore, this research paper concentrates on reviewing methods for the formation of groups of students working in such lengthy projects in order to create guidance, which will help instructors to divide students into groups, and organize and coordinate the work dynamic among team members.