Gordon Smith, G., Sorensen, C., Gump, A., Heindel, A.J., Caris, M.,
Martinez, C.D. (2011)
Overcoming student resistance to group work: Online versus face-to-face
Internet and Higher Education, 14, 2,121-128
Group membership.
Diverse employment background, therefore bring variety of
knowledge to the group. one student in each skilled at production
Advice to groups
Charter for norms and responsibilities
Advised to have weekly synchronous meetings
Data sources
Survey
- Previous experience of OL collaboration ( yes/no)
- Need to know other members skills and wok habits from the start (LS5)
- Able to resolve all logistical problems (LS5)
- I like working in groups (LS5)
- I think group work is beneficial (LS5)
- I think collaborating online is great, as there are many synchronous tools available (LS5)
Communication more difficult online ( sometimes tortuous)
More maladaptive groups online
Participation more marked as a problem in the reports from
OL groups
Student journals
12 themes
communication, participation, group member attributes,
team support, group assessment, group member assessment, personal feelings about working in groups,
pressure, feedback, assignment difficulty, task delegation, others.
Discussion
Need to persuade students of the value of group work
