Group work in the spotlight | 25 August

Why do we expose students to group work?

If we all knew the best way to do group work we would have overcome the obstacles by now. Group work is a challenge because its success depends on so many factors. It cannot be prescribed and controlled; one size does not fit all courses, subjects or projects. The dimensions that play into group work can range from; different expectations, time, workload, technical, personal, social, affective, economic and cultural; to educational aspects and priorities.

A lot has been written on ‘how to do’ group work and the ‘mechanics’ of group work -thus, in this first of a series of webinars, we plan to provide you with links to some key resources.

One missing link is perhaps a robust discussion about the ‘why’ we do group work? What are its various purposes? As there may be many different reasons for doing group work, it is a good idea to explain to your students why you have designed group work into your subject and explain your approach. 

In the first webinar in this new series Group Work in the spotlight we will tackle the following questions:

• Why are we exposing students to group work?
• What can students learn through group work that they cannot learn from lectures and textbooks?
• How are you introducing students to group work?

Pre-work:

• Jot down a draft definition of what group work is and start to address why you do it
• Bring your favourite group work resource (scholarly articles, facebook groups, twitter #, teaching materials, etc) that we can build on to provide a great rationale for why we need to learn to facilitate group work well.

Readings about group work

• Cohen, E. G. and R. A. Lotan (2014). Designing groupwork: Strategies for the heterogeneous classroom Third Edition, Teachers College Press.
• Hager, P. and Beckett, D. 92019). The emergence of complexity: Rethinking education as a social science. Springer.
• Livingstone, D. and K. Lynch (2002). “Group project work and student-centred active learning: Two different experiences.” Journal of Geography in Higher Education 26(2): 217-237
• Summers, M. and S. Volet (2010). “Group work does not necessarily equal collaborative learning: evidence from observations and self-reports.” European Journal of Psychology of Education 25(4): 473-492