Facilitating Group Work
Facilitated by
Dalia Hanna, Gosha Zywno and Maureen Reed
The Learning and Teaching Office
March 21, 2012
Objectives
• Explore best practices in designing student
group work
• How to manage groups (Communication &
Conflict)
• How to assess group work
Designing Successful Group Work
• Make the group work relevant
• Create assignments that fit the students' skills
and abilities
• Assign group tasks that allow for a fair division of
labor
• Plan for individual accountability
• Create group tasks that require interdependence
(Davis, 1993)
Designing Successful Group Work
Research indicates the manner in which an instructor facilitates a
group project has a significant impact on the success of the
group project
• Be sure the task is worthy of a group
• Design the assignment: Stay focused on your intended
learning objectives.
• Prepare students for collaboration: Provide students with
strategies and tools to help them collaborate
• Do regular assessments: Clearly articulate how you will
measure success for both the collaborative process and the
final product.
(University of Wisconsin, 2009)
Type of Groups
• Project Groups:
o Student-Formed Groups
o Instructor-Assigned Groups
“Although students-selected groups perceived
they produced higher-quality work, the actual
grades assigned to the group projects did not
differ between group formation condition.”
(Hilton & Phillips, 2010, p.26)
Group Work: Faculty members say
The most common problems of group
work are:
• An absence of leadership and
cooperation
• Difficulty defining and assigning tasks,
and maintaining equal participation
• Scheduling meetings, and achieving
group goals
Group Work: Faculty members say
Common issues:
• My students don’t like or want to work in groups
• How do I decide which assignments/activities to make
collaborative?
• How do I divide students into groups?
• How can I help students learn to work in groups?
• How can I deal with conflicts within the groups?
• How do I grade collaborative work?
• What are ways of dealing with unproductive or
disruptive members?
(Schwartz, 2011)
Group Work: Faculty members
• Unproductive or disruptive members:
o Tasks assigned weren’t well-suited to complete
o Neglected to send important email messages
o Scheduled meetings at times they couldn’t attend
o Set impossible deadlines
o No peer support
(Freeman & Greenacre as
cited in the Teaching professor, 2011)
Group Work: Research
The Association of American Colleges and Universities
have identified group work as a high impact educational
practice.
Group work
(a)Assists student to problem solve
(b)Help students to work in team environments
(Macgregor, Cooper, Smith & Robinson, 2000)
Group Work: Research
• The reasons for using group work (100 faculty
interviewed):
o Promoting cognitive elaboration
o Enhancing critical thinking
o Providing feedback
o Promoting social and emotional development
o Appreciating diversity
o Reducing student attrition
Group Work: Research
The National Survey on Student Engagement
(NSSE) identified Active and Collaborative
Learning as one of 5 benchmarks of Effective
Educational Practice.
• Students learn more when they are:
o Intensely involved in their education
o Are asked to think about and apply what they are
learning in different settings.
(NSSE, 2009)
Group Work: Students say
Engage Technology
Enhanced Group Work
Award survey. Over
800 students
participated.
• 86% agree that
group work is
valuable
• 63% agree that they
learn more
effectively in groups
(University of Wisconsin, 2009)
Managing Groups
A group came to you saying, we can not understand what
we are supposed to do, we tried to work together but
failed to make any progress?
1. What are the questions that you would need
to ask?
2. What are the tools that you could provide?
3. How can you help them to communicate effectively?
Designate time for team support. Don’t wait until they
come to you with problems. They may never come
The purpose of the Group
• Tubbs & Moss (2000):
Small number of people learn together about a subject
• Werthein (2001) added:
…with complementary skills, committed to a common
goal, a common working approach and mutual
accountability
(as cited in Oudtshroone & Hay, n.d.)
• A group project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to
create a unique product, service or result
(PMBOK, 2004)
The purpose of the Group
• Group work is best when project management
is considered
• Project Management is the application of
knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to
project activities to meet project
requirements - (PMBOK, 2004)
Project Management
• Project Management Processes :
o Initiation
o Planning
o Executing
o Monitoring and
Controlling
o Closing
(PMBOK, 2004)
Project Management: Triple Constraints
SCOPE
QUALITY
COST
TIME
Project Management: Initiation
• A project charter or project definition states:
o Group goals and objectives (Clearly stated)
o Roles and responsibilities
o Communication methods
o What happens if things go wrong?
(WHO is doing WHAT)
Project Management: Planning
• While planning the project, the project plan
should involve all appropriate student
members. (PMBOK, 2004)
• Example: After creating the charter, clear goals
and responsibilities are assigned.
Details about each goal should also be
identified (Work breakdown structure – WBS)
Project Management: Planning
• Student could present their plans using a
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)
What are Stages of Group
Development?
Forming
Storming
Performing
Adjourning
Norming
Help Your Students Establish Roles
•
•
•
•
•
Clear objectives (The purpose)
The charter (Contract)
Determine the size and composition
The leadership role rotates
Other roles:
Forming
o Note taker
o Time keeper
o Monitor
(FitzRandolph & Farrell, 2005)
Help Your Students Reach the Goals
Storming
Storming
• (Me) Versus (We)
• Communication skills and conflict
management skills
• Listen and paraphrase
• Confront the problem student directly
• Tolerate and encourage disagreement
Help Your Students
to Communicate in Groups
• Interpersonal Communication:
o Two-way communication is necessary
Culture
Values
Personalities
Sender
Message
Receiver
Emotions
Judgments
(Wilbur Schramm as cited in Verma, 1996)
Communication Methods: Face-to-Face
• Verbal
• Nonverbal
• Written
Albert Meharabian:
Total Message Impact = Words (7%) + Vocal tones
(38%) + Facial expressions (55%)
(as cited in Verma, 1996)
• Meetings (Timing – Agenda – Notes – Follow-up)
Communication Methods: Virtual
• Tools to meet and connect virtually:
o
o
o
o
Document Sharing: Google Docs
Wikis: Wikispaces
File Sharing: Dropbox
VoIP: Skype (http://www.skype.com)
• Characteristics of a virtual
meeting
Group Work Assessment
Norming
Norming
• Check in with student teams, ask for drafts
• Danger: feeling of cohesion vs. good decisionmaking
Performing
Performing
• Members achieve the goals
• Any unplanned changes in members or roles
could take them back to the Storming phase
(FitzRandolph & Farrell, 2005)
Group Work Assessment
Adjourning
Adjourning
• Evaluation and Assessment (Rubrics)
• Be careful when you give a group mark
(Academic Integrity Reasons)
• Marking individually could create sense of
isolation especially from the low performers
and minority
Help your Student to Resolve Conflict
Conflict Management Skills:
• Assertiveness, the person satisfies his/her own concerns
• Cooperativeness, person attempts to satisfy the other
person's concerns
• These two basic dimensions of behavior define five
different modes for responding to conflict situations:
Competing, Collaborating, Compromising,
Accommodating, and Avoiding
(TKI-Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument)
Common conflicts in group work
• One student is a ‘social loafer’, that is this
student does not contribute to the group
Potential solutions?
Conflicts continued
• Students are arguing about the division of
work because one student has taken over
others tasks
Potential solutions?
Conflicts continued
• There seems to be personality conflicts within
a group.
Potential solutions?
Conflicts continued
• You know that students have not contributed
equally but in peer evaluations students gave
equal grades to all group members.
Potential solutions?
References
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, (3rd ed.). (2004). Newtown, PA: Project Management
Institute
Davis B. G. (1993). Collaborative Learning: Group Work and Study Teams. In Tools for Teaching. Retrieved from
http://teaching.berkeley.edu/bgd/collaborative.html
Hicks, Chelsea (2011), “Guiding Group work: Activities to maximize student learning from group projects,”
Teaching Innovation projects: Vol. 1 Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/tips/vol1/iss1/6
Hilton, S. and Phillips, F. (2101). Instructor-assigned and student-selected groups: A view from the inside. The
Teaching Professor (2011, June-July, vol. 25, n.6, 2011)
FitzRandolph, S. & Farrell, G. (2005). Survey of literature on the use of learning and project teams in the
classroom
Freeman, L. and Greenacre, L. (2011). An examination of socially destructive behaviors in group wok. An article
in The Teaching Professor (2010, April, vol. 24, n.4, 2010)
Oudtshroone, R. & Hay, D. (n.d.). Group work in higher education: a mismanaged evil or a potential good?.
Retrieved from
http://nwu.academia.edu/GPvanRheedevanOudtshoorn/Papers/487967/Group_work_in_higher_education_a_mismanaged
_evil_or_a_potential_good
Schwartz, M. (2011). Common issues about group work from faculty perspective.
Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument— also known as the TKI (Mountain View, CA: CPP, Inc., 1974–2009).
Kenneth W. Thomas and Ralph H. Kilmann Retrieved from: http://www.kilmann.com/conflict.html
University of Wisconsin, Technology-Enhanced Collaborative Group Work, Retrieved from:
http://engage.wisc.edu/collaboration/how_to/index.html
Verma, V. K. (1997). Managing the project team. The human aspect of project management (v. 3). Newtown,
PA: Project Management Institute
Questions/Comments