Group project and individual accountability
Four students complete a group project to design and build a small database for a fictional gym. They submit one report with all four names and one working database. During moderation, the teacher notices the report is written in a single voice, the database login history shows only two students made changes, and one student's reflection says she 'mostly did the research'. The teacher must award results for the unit, which requires each student to demonstrate the relevant skills. The group received a high mark on the report, and all four expect the same result.
1. Explain why awarding the same result to all four students is problematic under competency-based assessment.
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Competency-based assessment requires evidence that each individual can perform the required skills and apply the required knowledge. A single group report and a shared database do not show who did what. The login history suggests only two students built the database, and the single-voice report suggests uneven writing. The fourth student's reflection indicates a research-only role, which may not cover the technical criteria. If the teacher awards the same result to all four, some students may be judged competent without evidence, which undermines the validity and fairness of the result. The correct approach is to separate group-product evidence from individual evidence, and to require each student to demonstrate their own contribution against the unit criteria, for example through individual logs, version-control records, or a short individual defence of their design decisions.
2. Describe how the teacher should collect additional evidence and what to do if one student cannot demonstrate the required skills.
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The teacher should require each student to submit an individual contribution statement with dated evidence, such as commits, screenshots or meeting notes, and then hold a short individual interview in which each student explains a design decision and answers a technical question about the database. The teacher should record the interview outcomes against the criteria and keep them with the group report. This converts shared evidence into individual evidence. If a student still cannot demonstrate a required skill, the teacher should not mark that student competent for the unit. Instead, the teacher should identify the specific unmet criteria and arrange a supplementary individual task, such as building a small feature or writing a schema justification, before making a final judgement. The group mark should be adjusted so it reflects verified individual performance, and the teacher should document the reasoning in case of moderation.