Information and digital literacy in education via the digital path

Groupwork is a valuable part of a student’s experience as it gives them the opportunity to work with peers and develop more confident teamwork and communication skills (amongst many other skills). In the classroom this activity can take place by asking the students to sit together in groups or if in a lecture theatre type classroom form groups of pairs by row and then one pair turn around to form a four with the pair behind. You might ask the groups to find a space of their own and return to the classroom after a set time. In these smaller groups students can be asked to work on a problem, engage in discussions, or any other activity they can work on collaboratively.

When a discussion didn’t go anywhere.

When a group couldn’t seem to work together.

When the answer was wrong.

When the grade was unexpected.

When not all that many students are paying attention.

When things don’t go as planned or turn out as expected, the first response tends to be emotional—anger, embarrassment, frustration, disappointment. After riding the emotional wave, it’s easy to just let the tide go out. But when things go awry, those are times when critical reflection can offer insights that lead to learning.

Cooperative learning, collaborative strategies, group rotations—whatever we decide to call it, the research behind group work in the classroom makes a strong case for embracing collaborative learning. As beneficial as it is, however, group work can easily go awry if the planning and structures are not in place. Here are some suggestions for well-managed group work in the classroom.

Although still not at all that widely used, there’s long-standing interest in letting students work together on quizzes or exams. Upon first hearing about the approach, teachers’ initial response is almost always negative. Here are the most common objections.

I’m a strong believer in the benefits of students studying together, even though students don’t always understand or even experience the benefits. Oftentimes the potential gains of group study sessions are compromised by student behaviors. Students will saunter into study sessions, mostly not on time, sit around, check their phones, and socialize. When they finally start reviewing their notes, the text, or the homework problems, it’s all pretty superficial. There are very few questions, explanations, or confessions of confusion. The most intense conversation takes place over what they’ve heard from others about the exam and their hopes that it will be easy.

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What’s the best way to put students into groups? It’s the first task that confronts teachers who want students to work together. And the best reply is one of those “it depends” answers. Here are the questions on which it depends.

Amongst the nasty habits your lecturers have is setting this particular piece of torture. Group assignments be they assessed collectively or individually are a minefield for the student so I have summarised my survival tips here. I won’t promise these will mean you have a fun time, but following this advice will give you the best chance of doing well and completing the assignment with the least amount of stress.