Resource

Group Work

Author: ATU Galway

What is it?

A learning situation where students work as part of a group to collaborate on an assessment. The assessment can be based on a variety of assessment types. It helps students build skills in teamwork and prepares them for realistic workplace dynamics.

Advantages & Challenges

Advantages

Challenges

Advantages

Helps to develop skills such as teamwork, organisation, time management, analytical and cognitive.
Group assessment can enable students to achieve more complex tasks than they would be able to do in an individual assessment.
This form of assessment may reduce the workload for both the student and the staff, allowing for more time for staff to support the students with this process.
This assessment method has a wide variety of uses.

Other advantages may include:

Authentic assessment tasks, mirroring real-world scenarios, help students connect their learning to practical contexts, enhancing motivation.
Group work tasks contribute to employability by offering opportunities to develop valued team-working skills, though working in a team alone may not guarantee skill improvement.
Inclusive group work, designed to incorporate diverse backgrounds and perspectives, enables all students to contribute and learn from each other, promoting inclusive practices.

Challenges

Tips for Use

Design group assignments that align with the learning objectives and course content. Create tasks that require collaboration, creativity, and application of module concepts.
Provide clear instructions for the group assignments, including the task description, objectives, expectations, and assessment criteria. Clearly outline the roles and responsibilities of each group member and establish deadlines for task completion.
For creating groups these can be randomly assigned by the lecturer or allow students to select their own groups. In the earlier stages of the course random assignment can be used to facilitate students getting to know their other classmates.
Monitor the progress of group work through regular check-ins, meetings, or progress reports. Provide feedback and guidance to groups to ensure that they stay on track and address any challenges or issues that arise during the process.

Resources

University college Dublin (UCD): Group Work and Its Assessment (ucd.ie)
University of New South Wales (UNSW): Assessing by Group Work | UNSW Teaching Staff Gateway
University of Warwick: Group Work (warwick.ac.uk)
Chan C.(2010) Assessment: Assessing Group Work, Assessment Resources@HKU, University of Hong Kong:TALIC – Assessment Resource Centre (hku.hk)

Resource for students:

University of Reading: Home – Effective group work – LibGuides at University of Reading

Sample Rubrics

Center for Teaching Innovation: Sample group work rubric | Center for Teaching Innovation (cornell.edu)
VALUE Rubrics: VALUE Rubrics – Teamwork | AAC&U (aacu.org)

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