Enhancing Experiences of Group Work
The Institute for Interactive Media & Learning (IML) has produced a resource kit to help lecturers and tutors manage and motivate student groups.
Unit 1: Designing Group Assignments
Designing group assignments that students will find motivating. Making the assignment, meaningful, achievable, easily allocated into sub-tasks, are relevant to learning outcomes, and achievable.
Unit 2: Preparing Students for Group Work
Providing students with a written rationale for group work, reinforcing the rationale verbally, helping students become familiar with others in their class prior to group formation, helping students to help themselves learn about group work.
Unit 3: Forming Effective Groups
How many students should be in each group, formation methods, advantages and disadvantages of each.
Unit 4: Getting Groups Started
Suggestions for helping groups start off on the "right foot". Team-building exercises that will help your students: get acquainted with their fellow group members, develop ground rules and norms for their groups, learn how to work cooperatively. Techniques to help students organise and run their group meetings.
Unit 5: Monitoring Groups
Three key areas of group work that benefit from monitoring. Techniques for checking meetings, group progress and group dynamics. Strategies to help groups caught in conflict.
Unit 6: Assessing Groups
Alternative approaches for assessing student groups, advantages and disadvantages of each.
Unit 7: Helping Students Reflect on their Group Experience
Why students should be encouraged to reflect on their group experience. Use of learning journals and essays to encourage the reflective process.
Group Work Resources
Readings and exercises.
