Group Work

1
Group Work

• Research has demonstrated that an important
  factor in student success in university studies
  is the opportunity for students to work in
  groups. While many academics would like to
  include group work, there is often hesitation
  because of bad experiences when groups have
  fallen apart and have failed to complete the
  tasks or left the work to one or a few students
  who have felt badly put upon.

-This Presentation Courtesy of Angelo and Cross
(1993)
2
What Is A Group?

• You would say that the people working in a
  factory form a group because, in the context of
  their occupation, they interact with one another
  more than they interact with other people, so far
  as their occupation goes. Within the factory, men
  or women co-operating in a special job form a
  group - a subgroup with respect to the factory as
  a whole - for the same reason.
• - Sprott (1958)

3
Pros of Working In Groups

• Group projects provide for developing skills such
  as
• organization
• negotiation
• delegation
• team work
• co-operation
• leadership
• following

4
Pros of Working In Groups

• The Kicker These skills are not automatically
  picked up, mind youthey are only typically
  gained after exposure to the variations inherent
  in the group process after a sufficient level of
  exposure, then, each of you will be able to work
  effectively in group situations where the
  dynamics shift according to the unique
  participants with which youre endeavoring.
• Group work can be a means for demonstrating and
  becoming aware of your peers sometimes
  not-so-obvious strengths and expertise
• With more students working together toward a
  single goal, the quality of their product can
  easily outshine the quality of an individuals
  product!

5
Cons of Working In Groups

• Teams fall apart
• It can advantage some students and disadvantage
  others
• Considerable time is spent in organizing the
  group and planning action
• Difficult to quantify individual input
  qualifying your peers failings can lead to
  tension
• "Group Think" Some groups malfunction when the
  preservation of the group becomes more important
  than the task at hand or the ideas.
• Creation of "team players" not being a team
  player means dissenting from the group identity.
• Independent thinkers are not popular in a group
  environment

6
When to Appreciate Groups

• When quality is more important than efficiency
• While groups can at times be inefficient,
  intelligent navigation of group dynamics can
  yield a strong, quality product.
• When the task lends itself to a division of labor
  
• Shared responsibilities allow for a fuller
  product, whereas the same product would take
  considerably more time to complete if tasks were
  instead handled by a single person.
• When working alone tends to be boring
• Working in a group, if clear roles and objectives
  are established, can be very rewardinghow you
  choose to treat the group is a direct reflection
  of your inability to conceptualize the fruits of
  working with your peers.
• If youre having a hard time navigating the
  group, talk to them, share your concerns,
  frustrations and ideas
• If the group doesnt include you, despite your
  efforts, speak with your professor and/or mentor

7
Setting Up Teams

• Joining a group
• Groups should be made up of students whove
  demonstrated skill-sets that will balance rightly
  against their counterparts skill-sets
• learning to identify the worth of your peers is
  an imperative
• What are/arent you good/great at?
• Keep to smaller numbers. An eight member team is
  too large for effective project management and
  allows some members to "disappear, thus setting
  a burden on the remaining members to pick up the
  slack.
• Roles
• Ensure that all group members are aware of what
  their roles in the group are. Possible roles
  include
• Note taker
• Spokesperson
• facilitator
• Chair

8
Strategies for Group Success

• Discourage anonymity by establishing small
  groups.
• Make the feedback public in the group, and strive
  to write everything down (roles, assignments,
  dates, contracts).
• Use in-class time for group meetings and
  planning, and utilize your professor and mentor
  when you have questions, ideas, etc.
• Clearly identify what the groups product will
  be, and conceptualize what your contribution
  means with respect to this resultant amassment of
  efforts.
• Learn to assess the forest as well as the tree
• Meet early on and often.

9
Strategies for Group Success

• Remember that disagreements in your group need
  not equate to chaos rather, realize that these
  interactions often breed creativity.
• Vary the products of your group work
• Presentations that engage the audience
• Papers versus hands-on products
• Access the functioning of your group through
  periodic critiques, and create a binder
  documenting your groups categorical progress
• Keep your professor and mentor abreast of
  significant milestones or fallout within the
  group

10
What to Know

• (Next two slides courtesy of http//stage.itp.nyu
  .edu/cs97/social_weather/group_work.html)
• GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS
• First, the bad news. Working in groups is not
  like baking a pie -- there is no recipe for
  getting it right every time. Groups are
  fantastically complex entities, and groups will
  sometimes fail no matter what you do.
• The good news is that there are a number of
  things you can do to improve the odds of success.
  The literature is too large to summarize in any
  comprehensive way, but here are a dozen things I
  think I know about working in groups that may
  help you get more out of group work while you are
  here. Some of them are things you can do to
  prepare for group work, some of them are things
  the group can do together at the outset, and some
  of them are ongoing habits.

11
Things to Know

• They are
• Embrace ego (admitting your goals and accepting
  the team).
• Use the group for having ideas, not just
  ratifying them.
• Beware premature optimization (avoid adopting
  ideas too early).
• Structure is not tyranny (structure is
  efficiency).
• Decide how to decide (learning to agree on
  methods).
• Settle on social software (contact, contact,
  contact).
• Get it in writing (holding yourself and the group
  accountable).
• Match roles and goals (what we do should make
  sense, right?).
• Talk about the relationship (bumpy at first
  communication smooth).
• Accept inequality (there will always be someone
  working harder!).
• There is no substitute for time (working together
  longer better).
• Have a drink. You've earned it (unless youre
  underage!).

12
References

• Angelo, T.A. Cross, P.K. (1993). Classroom
  Assessment Techniques A Handbook for College
  Teachers. San Francisco Jossey-Bass, 427 pp.
• Stanton, R.G. and Sprott, D.A. (1958). Can. J.
  Math. 10. 73-77.
• Blackler F. and Shimmin, S. (1984). Applying
  Psychology in Organizations.

13
Tims Advice for in class groups

• Get Organized quickly
• Select a leader (Vary this between groups. Dont
  always be the leader. Avoid never being the
  leader)
• Select a note-taker Sometimes more important
  than the leader
• Agree on a artifact as output Often the most
  important decision
• Paper, picture, outline, list,
• Division of Labor
• Can the group do things in parallel?
• Agree on who does what.
• Put it down in writing - The To-Do list (an
  important role of note-taker).
• Every role should have a physical product as goal
• Know your group members.
• Pay attention to what your class mates do in
  class. Use this knowledge to effectively decide
  who does what.

14
More notes from Tim

• Report back to the class effectively.
• Agree on 1 or 2 people as spokes persons
• Cover the important points first
• Use visual aids
• Dont be afraid to remind the spokes person of
  important point he might have forgotten.
• Evaluate
• Afterwards, talk about group dynamics
• Think about your own performance.
• What could I have done to improve the groups
  effectiveness