Successful group work requires careful design of the task or assessment. Preparation is crucial to a positive and rewarding learning experience for students, especially if students have had negative group experiences in the past.

Group work should only be used when it will enhance student learning and is appropriate to the task. When creating group work, consider:

• Is it constructively aligned?
  • What will the students be learning from this task? Which learning outcomes is it addressing?
• Is it suitable for group collaboration?
  • Can the task be easily separated? Is it too easily separated?
    Collaboration is a key for group work, so consider both if the task can be worked on individually and as a group rather than segmented to entirely individual components.
• Can the task be implemented within an appropriate timeframe?
  • Is there enough time in the course schedule for group dynamics to be developed before the task is due?
• Is the task meaningful?
  • Not all tasks are suitable to group work, and students need to see the meaning of a task or assessment and how it contributes to their learning to engage in the group successfully.
• Will the student benefit from group work?
  • Will students have opportunity to benefit from structured check-ins or feedback from an educator before the task is due?
  • Will they gain skills and content knowledge from the process?
• How will the task be marked?
  • Will there be a peer evaluation component? If so, how will this impact the overall marking, e.g., is it a guide or will it be recorded in Gradebook?
  • Will members be marked individually, as a group, or both?

While it can take time, the careful orientation of students and selection of groups is essential to positive outcomes. You can orient students by:

• Providing a clear rationale of the task, both in writing and verbally
  • Explain to students why group work was chosen and how it will contribute positively for their overall learning and future working experiences.
• Creating groups
  • Ensure groups are creating as early as possible in the teaching period to provide time for students to get to know one another.
  • Research supports educator-selected groups over allowing students to self-select their teams. Self-selected groups can lead to greater instances of negative group outcomes and experiences overall.
  • In selecting groups, consider the diversity of each group and ensure students will be supported. Research shows including international or ESL students across groups can benefits all students. Consider settings tasks that are not entirely dependent on a high level of competence in English; if that is a requirement, provide exemplars and resources to support students in understanding the expectations.
• Providing time for ‘getting to know you’ activities
  • Icebreakers aren’t always met with enthusiasm, but they are helpful for reducing discomfort among a student group, which is essential for successful group work.
  • Consider building time for icebreakers or ‘getting to know you’ activities in the first lesson, either before or after groups have been formed to foster connection between students.
  • Icebreakers are important for scaffolding engagement and active learning in groups.
  • For ideas on icebreaking activities you might use in class, see our icebreakers resource.

• Providing structure and templates for students to work out their group roles, expectations, and goals
  • Group contracts allow for clear goals and expectations to be discussed and agreed to by all members of a group.
  • See our Group Contract resource for more details.

Sometimes groups struggle and will need to be monitored and supported. Conflict is a part of developing interpersonal skills, but it is important that students have a framework to manage difficult situations in their groups.

Tools like a group contract will help with these aspects, but as students may not be confident to deal with conflict within the group, there will be times when the course coordinator or tutor will need to step in and facilitate this process.

Support and monitoring can also be structured into a course. Unequal group member participation is a common difficulty in group work, and this can be reduced by having staggered anchor points for work to be due or progress to be shown.

Consider:

• Establishing a clear point of contact for students early in the course
  • Be clear about when and how to contact you and what steps students should take before reaching out.
  • Part of facilitation is encouraging students to find resolutions together with their group to develop their interpersonal and communications skills, but it is equally important students feel supported by the educator.
• Building time in-class for groups to discuss their work, or to ask the educator questions about the task
  • Scheduled time will give you the opportunity to monitor groups more closely and provide students with the opportunity to come up with solutions together in a supported environment.
• Monitoring group progress through structured check ins/deadlines built into the course schedule
  • Having progress deadlines will assist students to self-manage within the group and reduce the instances of conflict around lack of contribution and prevent students from leaving things to the last minute.
  • Deadlines can be informal or formal, and can take a variety of forms, such as:
    • a brief presentation to the class
    • submission of a draft
    • showing their progress to the tutor in class at anchor points before a due date to ensure they are on track

Group work evaluation comprises marking and feedback, and self- and peer-reflection. This will look different depending on the structure of the group task and how students will be marked if the task is summative assessment.

Student Self-Evaluation and Reflection

Reflection is important to highlight the benefits and growth students have achieved from the group task, as well as to consider how things could have been managed differently in the group dynamic. Consider designing a self-evaluation or self-reflection component into the task. This can be a one-time evaluation, or a progressive reflection piece.

A progressive reflection component can also be useful for managing unequal contributions, as it provides another checkpoint for students to meet over the length of the project and helps with self-monitoring.

Reflective components can include:

Peer Review

A common practice for group work is to include a peer review component where students provide feedback on group member contributions and behavior.  Peer reviews should be confidential and structured to provide the marker an understanding of the group dynamics and processes, as well as providing an opportunity for the student to reflect on the group work for further personal development.

A peer review can include:

Another option is to have students conduct a peer-review of the academic content written by their fellow group members to demonstrate their understanding of the content, and to help review contributions.

Marking and Feedback

Marking group work can be done in several ways. Each marking structure for group work tends to have both positives and negatives and should be selected to align with the task design and the skills you are targeting in student development. Consider the following structures:

A group contract or team agreement establishes collaboration and clear expectations from the beginning of the group task. It requires input and agreement from each group member on the direction and structure of the group task and provides a framework for conflict resolution if it arises. It ensures equitable contributions and personal accountability.

Benefits of using a contract include:

• Protects group members
• Increases feelings of community
• Ensures all have a voice
• Develops interpersonal skills
• Ensures equitable contributions
• Aids with project and time management

The contract could cover expected behaviour when interacting with their group members, the method and frequency of communication and meetings, and deadlines for when work is expected to be completed and shared with the group. It can include group roles, where appropriate, or a plan for how the students will approach the task.

It may also be helpful for students to briefly detail their other priorities, such as job and family commitments, and their study load. This will help students determine guidelines for group productivity and can deepen their understanding and empathy of the diverse needs of a team. These aspects are crucial for the development of communication and teamwork skills built through group work.

As some students will be more dominant than others in group settings, a structured template for the group contract is essential to ensure input from each member. Providing time in class for students to create their group contracts allows the educator to monitor group dynamics and provide support when needed, and ensures the task is student-led and self-motivated. This is best done in the first class when student groups are formed, but if time doesn’t allow this, it is important that the template be explained verbally, either in class or through a video, to ensure the contract is completed correctly.

Another option is to have students come up with their own group contract, or to determine the necessary components as a class for a collaborative approach.

Group Contract - Sample Template