Group Work

Group work can take a variety of forms.  Whatever the form, the underlying commonality involves students working together, either cooperatively or collaboratively toward a common goal.  The learning outcomes that result from these experiences, often called peer learning environments, are profound.  Moreover, in addition to the acquisition of key content knowledge, group work provides a context in which students practice important interpersonal, social negotiation, group management and team process skills.  When thinking about incorporating group work into a course, you might consider several important issues, including:

• how group work may allows student to achieve specific learning objectives for your course?
• how to best support students in managing team dynamics?
• to what extent are group process outcomes important?
• how should group work be assessed?

While group work tends to lend itself to project-based courses by tradition, providing group-based assignment and activities offers students in nearly any course format or discipline the opportunity to engage in peer learning and to develop important team skills.   

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