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Student Roles

Bess shows Reidel strain to her classmates


  • Who starts the discussion? Who is supposed to keep it going?
  • How do we meet everyone's standards for good work?
  • Who is in charge of keeping track of what everyone has done and of the stuff we're supposed to do?



Potential Project Roles

  • Leader/Editor: This student is in charge of organizing the final product of the project, be it a paper, a presentation, etc. That doesn't mean technical details, but of making sure that the project meets the standards set out by the instructor (often as a rubric), plus any extras stipulated by the group. These standards generally include punctuality and completeness.
  • Recorder/Secretary: This person takes notes whenever the group meets and keeps track of group data/sources/etc. This person distributes these notes to the rest of the group highlighting sections relevant for their parts of the project.
  • Checker: Someone needs to double-check data, bibliographic sources, or graphics for accuracy and correctness.
  • Spokesperson/Press Secretary/Webmaster: This person would be responsible for the technical details of the final product and would be ready to summarize the group's progress and findings to the instructor and to other groups.

Possible Discussion Roles

  • Facilitator/Encourager: This student gets discussion moving and keeps it moving, often by asking the other group members questions, sometimes about what they've just been saying.
  • Timekeeper: Someone needs to make sure that the group stays on track and gets through a reasonable amount of material in the given time period.
  • Summarizer: Every so often (perhaps once per question for a list of questions, or at the end for one question), this student provides a summary of the discussion for other students to approve or amend.
  • Reflector: This student will listen to what others say and explain it back in his or her own words, asking the original speaker if the interpretation is correct.
  • Elaborator: This person seeks connections between the current discussion and past topics or overall course themes.

For Further Reading