
Planning Group Work Activities
A guide for designing tasks and supporting students
Why is Group Work Important?
It is important for students to collaborate and contribute in group activities because it can be an effective and powerful way to learn. It is also useful for preparing students for the workforce by developing their communication, organisation, leadership and delegation skills by working together through a process to produce an end product.
Benefits of Group Work
There are many benefits to students working in groups ranging from lessening the student workload for in depth tasks, working together towards a deadline and receiving feedback from their peers
Challenges of Group Work
It's important for the teachers to consider these pitfalls when planning a group work activity and think how to best provide support to students throughout the task
The image below compares the outcomes of a good group work experience to a difficult group work experience.
Planning for Group Work
1. Designing Group Work Activities
When designing group tasks it is important to ensure:
- The task is suited to group work rather than to individual work. The objective is for students to collaborate and learn together.
- The task allows all group members to make useful contributions towards the task.
- Each member’s contribution is easily identifiable through transparent online collaboration tools, for example, a wiki or a forum.
- That everyone will be able to fully participate in the task.
- Each member’s knowledge and skills are recognised as a strength rather than a weakness.
- If it is an assessment decide if you will assess the process (the journey) or the product (the outcome) or both.
2. Group Familiarisation
Groups need time to connect, it is important for team members to get to know each other with the support of the teacher.
3. Introducing the Group Activity
Before the group activity begins, there are a few considerations to think about before introducing students to the activity, these are;
- Explain the rationale for using group work for the task. Students need to see the benefit of the task and understand why they need to collaborate.
- Form the groups before you give them the task . An average size is 4-6 group members. More numbers makes it easier for freeloaders to hide. Freeloaders are known to least contribute to the task and receive the same grade as other group members.
- Give the students an icebreaker activity in the group so they can get to know each other.
- Explain the task clearly. This will tell the students exactly what they need to do and will give them an idea of what a finished product will look like.
- Set some ground rules for group interaction. The group charter template will help the groups to communicate amongst each other, make a plan for the task and stay on track with their deadlines.
- Give students time to ask questions so they can understand what is required of them.
4. Facilitating and Monitoring Group Work
Some students maybe new to working in groups or previously may have been a part of an in-effective group and could need more support with guidelines, resources and regular catch-ups with the teacher.
Other students who have worked in a groups previously may need less monitoring. However, it is important to monitor all groups to some level so that effective feedback can be given to the group and to intervene if necessary.
Below are some tips for monitoring all student groups.
- Monitor the groups but avoid interfering with the group. As students work within their groups you can still circulate around the groups but give them time to resolve problems and to contribute to the task.
- Request a progress report to identify how well the group is working. The group work meeting organiser template provides information that can be useful for seeing how the groups are progressing through the task and identify actions that are still outstanding.
- For groups that are experiencing difficulties, refrain from resolving the problem for them. Aim to encourage the group members to find solutions together. Remind them of the task instructions but let them workout how to approach the task.
5. Ending the Group Activity
All group tasks need closure at the end. Students need to know if they met the requirements of the task and answered the question correctly.
Below are a few tips
- Summarise the group’s key points and response to the task requirements.
- Ask the group to reflect on their performance and its strengths and weaknesses.
- Ask the student’s to individually reflect on their own performance and their own strengths and weaknesses.
- Provide feedback on how the group can improve for the next activity.
Assessing Group Work
When it comes to assessing group work there needs to clear and careful considerations to ensure the task is reasonable for students and that it supports the objective of the task.
When the group work component is greater than 25% of a subject’s total grade, the assessment must include individual student contributions.
There are different ways of grading a group tasks, these may include;
A Group Mark for all Members
Each member receives the same mark as the grade recognises the team’s collaboration as a whole.
There are a number of challenges with this approach as students aren’t marked on their individual contribution to the task and group members may not contribute the same amount of work or in some cases none at all. This is likely to cause tension within the group and possible resentment. On the other hand, a group member may dominate the group and restrict other group members from contributing to the task.
To keep all team members on track, at the beginning of the activity, all members should complete a group charter agreement to decide and assign tasks amongst the group.
At the end of the activity, all group members need to present their contribution to the task. This would encourage all members to get involved and take ownership in their work.
Students Learn in Groups but Submit Individually
Within the groups, students share their ideas, findings and resources but submit the final product individually. For example, students share and contribute resources as formative activities through a discussion forum over a couple of weeks, and they are to submit a business report as a summative assessment
Combined Group & Individual Marks for the Group Task
The individual contribution mark is used to moderate the group mark to indicate an individual contribution. A group mark is given to the group based on the assessment criteria of the Marking Rubric (Image 1) while the group member contribution involves peer and self-assessment using the Peer Evaluation Template (Image 2).
Image 1 Group Marking Rubric
Image 2 - Peer Evaluation Rating
What is Peer Evaluation Assessment and why is it important?
Peer evaluation is an important component of learning in that it helps build understanding of the assessment process and also ensures that all individual contributions are taken into account in group assignment. The group members assess the performance of their peers and their contributions to the task.
Benefits of Peer Evaluation Assessment
- It engages students in the learning process
- It develops the student's capability to reflect and evaluate their own performance
- It encourages students to think critically, develop interpersonal skills and give constructive feedback
Challenges of Peer Evaluation Assessment
- If not set up well, It can be seen as a competition for grades
- If the assessment criteria isn't clear, some students may give higher ratings based on their friendship rather than the peers performance
- Students may not understand the criteria of the task that the assessment is based on
- Students may feel reluctant to fail their peers
A Group Work Activity & Peer Evaluation Assessment Planning Checklist
There are many considerations to think about to when it comes to making group work effective. Here is a checklist for planning, designing and managing group activities that you may find useful.
- I have provided a clear rationale to the students so they understand why they need to complete this task.
- I have provided information about the task requirements. This includes the assessment brief criteria, learning outcomes, marking rubric and the ESK template.
- I have asked the students if they have any prior experience of working in groups.
- I have created an ice-breaker activity for the students to participate in so they get to know each other prior to starting the task.
- I have allocated time in the class for students to brainstorm and develop their own group rules using the group work charter.
- I have allocated time for students to work on the task in class.
- I have planned when I need to provide feedback to the group and how this will be done.
- I have planned when the students will reflect on the group’s performance and how they will do this.
- Provide students with examples of previous marked peer evaluation assessments and discuss how they have been marked.
- Give students opportunities to practice marking and receive feedback on their marking