Common Student Concerns
- Lack of perceived relevance
- Lack of clear objectives
- Inequity of contribution
- Overuse
Provide an opportunity for the class to discuss their concerns and how these concerns are being addressed by the unit of study assessment process. Questions for class discussion on this essay. You can provide your students with a groupwork policy which will provide guidelines.
Student objections to groupwork
Students will often express the following concerns/objections to groupwork:
'I would rather do the assessment on my own.' 'I have to travel with work so I can’t be part of a large group.' 'I don’t know/like anyone in this class.' 'I don’t want to be in a group with international/local students.' 'Groupwork means I will get lower marks.' 'I’ve done group assignments before, and I don’t like them.' 'You want us to do groupwork to reduce your marking.' |
Tips for helping students value groupwork
- Explain to students the benefits of groupwork (see the Why groupwork? page).
- Point out the experiences and skills they should gain from their involvement.
- Refer to the prepared and published objectives/outcomes to help explanations. Use them to show the task has been thoughtfully designed and carefully planned.
- Explain the many advantages of diversity in groups and make these explicit (see the Valuing diversity page).
- Outline technological ‘meeting options’ available to students (email, chat-rooms/ICQ, phone, internet conferencing, etc).
- Point out the advantages of planning around absences to make the most of a combination of face-to-face meetings and technological options.
- Stress how initial group planning and agreement will be important for group success, including splitting tasks and responsibilities.