Making Groups Work: University Students’ Perceptions
Jane Burdett (2003)
International Education Journal, Vol 4, No 3, p177-200
P179
“According to Imel (1991) there is little empirical evidence that collaborative learning works as it relates to learning outcomes and in adult education. Homel an Poel (1999) express a similar cview that group work has been demonstrated to be far less effective than it should be in many cases and that students must be taught how to be effective group members’
‘Mutch (1998) also oberves, ironically, that the tension students experience as they work in groups often, in fact, foreshadows what they willl experience in the workforce’
‘group work can be hard work emotionally and intelectually’
The study
105 responses from 344 final year business degree students
Face-face, meet in small groups (2-10) to collaborate on a task.
Survey, 43 items in 4 sections
- Demographics
- Participant experience, group work processes, (11 items)
- Competencies e.g.task management, problem solving, conflict resolution (8 items)
- 3 open ended questions
Findings (relating to sections 2& 4)
Quantitative
P182 ‘ 57% agreement with statement that experiences have been positive’
‘63% statement that groups worked well’ these students were more likely to believe that ‘ the workload was fairly shared, they could not have achieved better outcomes when working alone, the marks awarded were generally fair ( all r p<0.001)
Qualitative
Responses to open questions were p183 ‘coded, grouped and categorized as connecting themes emerged’.
120 comments about the best aspects of group work fell into five main categories
generating ideas and sharing views (43%, 52 comments)
meeting people and building friendships (28%, 33 comments)
improved learning process (16%, 19 comments)
sharing of workload (10%, 12 comments)
improved grades (4%, 3 comments)
147 comments about the worst aspects of group work
unequal distribution of effort (59%, 86 comments)
difficulties of accommodating different work schedules for meeting times (37%, 55comments)
lack of staff support (4%, 147 comments)
104 comments about addressing group work issues
improving time management and communication p186 ‘ establishing effective ways of communicating with each other’ –“trying to get together physically [was] difficult”
better assessment practices
increasing arbitration by staff
more effective allocation of students to groups
allowing choice of group members
making group work optional restricting group size
p186 “Generally, the remedies suggested by participants were aimed at overcoming the frustrating and disabling inequities they associated with formal group work.
Conclusion
Recommendations
- Offer collaborative work online to get rid of frustrations organising face to face meetings
- Design of task and assessment
- P190 ‘Strategies to assist group interdependence’
