OLTEB / Teaching / Groupwork (Staff)

Why Groupwork?

Groupwork involves students working collaboratively on specific tasks in a range of settings:

  • out-of-class (team projects, business games, case studies)
  • in-class (exercises, presentations, discussions and feedback)  
  • online (discussion forums, simulations, e-portfolios, surveys)

Groupwork may form part of the formal assessment for a unit of study or the informal non-assessable learning processes. The information presented here focuses mainly on assessable groupwork.

Groupwork can offer many benefits to staff and students. The benefits for students are listed in the Groupwork for Students section of this site (What's in it for me?). The benefits for staff can include:

  • more actively-engaged and more satisfied students
  • improved learning outcomes
  • less marking
  • integrated development of graduate attributes.

View this set of videos from Canberra University explaining rationale for groupwork.

 

Development of Graduate Attributes

Groupwork will help students to achieve the following graduate outcomes developed by the Faculty of Business and Economics, in line with the University’s framework for graduate attributes.

 

Research and Inquiry

  • Identify, define and analyse problems and recommend innovative solutions.
  • Develop coherent arguments when recommending solutions and critically evaluating theories in major fields of study.

Information Literacy

  • Conduct research using archives, libraries, the web and other sources of information.
  • Apply research principles and methods for gathering and analysing data/information relevant to major fields of study.
  • Employ technologies effectively in gathering information from written, oral and electronic sources.
  • Manage, analyse, evaluate and use information efficiently and effectively.

Personal and Intellectual Autonomy

  • Be open to new ways of thinking and appreciate the importance of intellectual curiosity and reflection as the foundation for continuous learning.

Ethical, Social and Professional Understanding

  • Display a deep respect for others and integrity in all aspects of their personal, professional and life as a global citizen.
  • Work with people from diverse backgrounds with inclusiveness, open-mindedness and integrity.

Communication

  • Negotiate and create shared understandings by respectfully interacting with people from diverse backgrounds.
  • Confidently and coherently communicate, orally and in writing, to a professional standard in major fields of study.
  • Display leadership by inspiring others in personal, professional and global contexts.
  • Employ technologies effectively in communicating information relevant to practice in major fields of study.

See Graduate Attributes Project for more information.