The role of a teacher
Several scientific studies [1] have shown that group work in education can develop students’ communication skills and aid in the process of knowledge acquisition. I personally always enjoyed group work throughout my education. I saw it as a fun and creative experience as well as a way to get a break from the passive learning of listening to a teacher in a classroom.
However, I also remember that many colleagues disliked working in groups, and their concerns match well the disadvantages of group work stated by Beede and Masterson[2]:
- Pressure from the group to conform to the majority opinion.
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Discussions being dominated by an individual.
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Members relying heavily on others to do the work.
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Working in a group is more time-consuming than working alone.
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| Figure 1: Disadvantages of group work [3] |
But in fact, people are changing, and a study made by in the UK [4] that collected students’ feedback on group work have shown that students recognize the benefits of group assignments and that students have developed a number of strategies for dealing with team members who did not cooperate as intended.
As Alison Burke explained in her paper [5], merely working in group does not develop the students’ communication skills and critical thinking. The teacher has a very important role in the students’ outcome as a facilitator for group involvement and participation. The work of a teacher as a facilitator can be done by:
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giving instructional advice and tools,
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creating a positive environment,
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determining the roles of the group members and
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making strategic decisions on the group size, material given to the group and time to complete the tasks.
Flower Darby [6] also highlighted the importance of the teacher’s role in helping students that suffer with anxiety, trauma or any other disorder to work well in groups. It was moving to read her concerns on particular students, that are many times misinterpreted as just uninterested in group work, and how she learned ways to equip them for success in their future endeavors [6].
As education is changing and adapting into more flexible ways of learning, such as online teaching, how can teachers continue to stimulate, coordinate and facilitate group work?
In my opinion, the same techniques used in face-to-face classes may be applied in online teaching. In addition, to incentivize group collaboration I would try to:
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make an online inquiry to the students at the beginning of the course, to get a grasp of their expectations for the course as well as their social attitude to aid me in the creation of functional groups,
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make compulsory webinars where I would formulate a couple of questions for the students to discuss in smaller groups (breakout rooms),
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give the groups the task of deciding
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occasionally take part in their group meetings to understand the group dynamics and
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create practical and relevant project group works.
As the American football player Vince Lombardi said:
“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a civilization work.”
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| Figure 2: Cooperation in group work [7] |
References:
[2] Beebe, S. F., Cross, K. P. Major, C. H. (2005) Collaborative learning techniques: A handbook for college faculty. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass Publishers.
