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Group work – why do it?
Rachel Horn – Civil & Structural Engineering
Structure of the session
• Employability & group work
– Employers’ view
– Academic view
– Key discussion points
• Brief examples - my experience
– Group work and skill development
– Peer assessment and moderation
• Group discussion
– Barriers and problems
– Methods and solutions – sharing good practice
– Adapting to other teaching scenarios
Employer view…
• Productivity
• Employability
Academic view…
• Deeper learning
• Management of numbers
• Employability
Making group work effective…
main problems and barriers
• Group size
• Group selection
• Group management
– ensuring participation
– administration and facilitation
• Assessment
• Types of group tasks
• Skill development & awareness of skills
My experience
• Project modules
– 3rd year & 4th year
• Careers and industrial liaison role
– Discussions and involvement in teaching
rd
3
year
Group project
Embedding teamwork skills
Subsequent 2-week group design project:
• Provide outline brief only – students interview client
– Professional approach
• Too much for one student
– all team have to co-operate, elements need integration
• Specific tasks
– Encourages adoption of roles
• Only one or two team members participate in each
“taught” session
– encourage communication
Raise awareness of skills
End of the design project:
• Final assessment
• Feedback and debrief session
– Reflection on skills
– Linked to professional training scheme
– Could be linked to other skills awareness – PDP etc
Assessment: Peer assessment
• 4th year module
– 8 groups = 4 paired groups – peer assess
• Encourages engagement
• Listen, question, analyse
• Develop constructive criticism
• Eager for feedback
• Learn from each other
Assessment: peer moderation
• Use peer moderation for “internal” team skills
•
•
•
•
Anonymous evaluation of peer contribution
Comments justify scores
Scores used to moderate group mark
Develop assessment criteria
e.g.
– Co-ordination, leadership, delegation
– Data investigation
– Problem-solving skills
– General teamwork skills
Group Discussion –
making group work effective…
• Main problems and barriers
• Solutions, good examples and ideas
• Adapt ideas to teaching situations
Group discussion
• Ideas for a group exercise / project
• Ideas for how to develop employability skills
– Teaching scenario
– Aims / intended benefits
– Barriers / potential difficulties
– How will skill development be achieved?
– How will it be assessed?
– Controls / solutions?
– How will students be encouraged to recognise skills they
have developed?