Abi, Ben, Celia, Dominic, and Eva have been assigned to complete a group project together. The group is in an online class, and each person lives in a different city. The group is given the task of creating a crisis management plan for an ice cream manufacturer, and they have been given access to a number of online tools that they are to use to collectively write the plan, including discussion boards, a wiki (a tool for collaborative writing, like Wikipedia), a file exchange, direct email, and so forth. The group has been working on their project for two weeks, and they have one more week to go.

Four days before the assignment is due, Abi emails you, a peer tutor for the class, complaining that no one in her group has told her what she is supposed to do. She also argues that she hasn't had email access over the weekend, but that she told her group in advance and didn't get a response. She posted something to the file exchange, but she is concerned about its quality because she didn't receive much guidance.

Later that morning, you check out the group's private discussion boards and other resources. You see that Abi did, indeed ask about her contributions more than once, but that the other group members said that each person would choose the part of the project he or she wanted to do; no individual group leader had made work assignments. Dominic had set up a checklist for the group and had mentioned it in an email to all the group members, but only he, Eva, and Celia had checked off anything. Ben had submitted some work, some of it fairly strong, but responded to emails sporadically and didn't participate in group discussions.

The next day, Dominic and Eva email you separately, voicing frustration about the group's performance and explaining that Ben has decided to drop the course. Dominic argues that he has taken a lead role and doesn't have time to take over Ben's work, too.

As the peer tutor for the class, you need to evaluate the group's performance and advise them about how to finish the project. In your essay, evaluate:

• Members' contributions to the team's work
• Members' interactions with one another
• Members' individual attitudes and behaviors (specifically expectations and knowledge or skills) that affect the team's collective performance.