CEE TEL Design Group Work Online Developing Group Work
Developing group work skills online
- Future Students
- 一本道Global Experience
- International Students
- Open Day
- How to apply
- Pathways to university
- Virtual Open Day
- Living on Campus
- Courses
- Publications
- Scholarships
- Parents and Partners
- 一本道Heroes Programs
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander in Marine Science
- Elite Athletes
- Defence
- AI@一本道
- Current Students
- New students
- 一本道Orientation
- Learn一本道
- Placements
-
CEE
- Search
- About CEE
- Education Strategy
- Teaching@一本道Support
- Assessment@一本道
-
TEL Design
- About Learn一本道
-
Assessment & Feedback
- Artificial Intelligence
- Assessment Tools
- Assessing Group Work
- Assessment Case Studies
- Assessment Methods
- Enable or Disable Submission View
- Inline Marking
- Grade Centre Setup
- Group Assessment Tools
- Marking and Feedback
- Multiple Choice Questions
- One Question at a Time
- Peer Review
- Release Conditions
- Respondus Secure Online Exams
- Respondus FAQs
- Safe Assign
- Save Grade Centre Filtering
- Submission Receipts
- Test Response Download
- Test Settings
- Timezones
- Video Assessment
- Collaboration
- Communication
-
Content & Learning Resources
- Accessibility in Learn一本道
- Banners for Subjects
- Computations
- Content Management
- Create Studio
- Emojis in Ultra Docs
- Exemplars in Learn一本道
- H5P in Learn一本道
- Hypothesis
- Intro Videos
- Learning Sequence (PDF)
- Learn一本道Layouts (PDF)
- Digital Media Support
- LinkedIn Learning
- Mayer's 12 Principles of Multimedia (PDF)
- Media Resources
- Open and Licensed Resources
- Padlet in Learn一本道
- Panopto Video Capture
- PebblePad ePortfolios
- Progress Tracking
- Release Conditions
- Subject Site Setup
- Organisation & Structure
- Participation & Engagement
- The Learn Lowdown
- Endorsed technologies
- Data & Evaluation
- Student Success
-
Development & Recognition
- 一本道L&T Conference
-
Professional Development
-
Grants & Awards
- 一本道Learning & Teaching Innovation Grants
- 一本道Sessional Teaching Awards
- 一本道Inclusive Practice Awards
- 一本道Inclusive and Accessible Learn一本道Site Awards
- 一本道Citations for Sustained Commitment to Enhancing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- 一本道Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
- National Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning
- 一本道DVC Education's Student Experience Award
- Showcasing Excellence
- Communities of Practice
- Unicare Centre and Unicampus Kids
- Graduation
- Off-Campus Students
- 一本道Job Ready
- Safety and Wellbeing
- 一本道Prizes
- Professional Experience Placement
- Employability Edge
- Art of Academic Writing
- Art of Academic Editing
- Careers and Employability
- Student Equity and Wellbeing
- Career Ready Plan
- Careers at 一本道
- 一本道
- JCU-CSIRO Partnership
- Alumni
- About 一本道
- Reputation and Experience
- Chancellery
- Governance
- Celebrating 50 Years
- Academy
- Indigenous Engagement
- Education Division
- Graduate Research School
- Research and Teaching
- Research Division
- Research and Innovation Services
- CASE
- College of Business, Law and Governance
- College of Healthcare Sciences
- College of Medicine and Dentistry
- College of Science and Engineering
- CPHMVS
- Anthropological Laboratory for Tropical Audiovisual Research (ALTAR)
- Anton Breinl Research Centre
- Agriculture Technology and Adoption Centre (AgTAC)
- Advanced Analytical Centre
- AMHHEC
- Aquaculture Solutions
- AusAsian Mental Health Research Group
- ARCSTA
- Area 61
- Lions Marine Research Trust
- Australian Tropical Herbarium
- Australian Quantum & Classical Transport Physics Group
- Boating and Diving
- Clinical Psychedelic Research Lab
- Centre for Tropical Biosecurity
- Centre for Tropical Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology
- CITBA
- CMT
- Centre for Disaster Solutions
- CSTFA
- Cyclone Testing Station
- The Centre for Disaster Studies
- Daintree Rainforest Observatory
- 一本道Eduquarium
- 一本道Turtle Health Research
- Language and Culture Research Centre
- MARF
- Orpheus
- TESS
- 一本道Ideas Lab
- TARL
- eResearch
- Indigenous Education and Research Centre
- Estate
- Work Health and Safety
- Staff
- Discover Nature at 一本道
- Cyber Security Hub
- Association of Australian University Secretaries
- Services and Resources Division
- Environmental Research Complex [ERC]
- Foundation for Australian Literary Studies
- Gender Equity Action and Research
- Give to 一本道
- Indigenous Legal Needs Project
- Inherent Requirements
- IsoTropics Geochemistry Lab
- IT Services
- 一本道Webinars
- 一本道Events
- 一本道Motorsports
- 一本道Sport
- Library
- Mabo Decision: 30 years on
- Marine Geophysics Laboratory
- Office of the Vice Chancellor and President
- Outstanding Alumni
- Pharmacy Full Scope
- Planning for your future
- Policy
- PAHL
- Queensland Research Centre for Peripheral Vascular Disease
- Rapid Assessment Unit
- RDIM
- Researcher Development Portal
- Roderick Centre for Australian Literature and Creative Writing
- Contextual Science for Tropical Coastal Ecosystems
- State of the Tropics
- Strategic Procurement
- Student profiles
- SWIRLnet
- TREAD
- TropEco for Staff and Students
- TQ Maths Hub
- TUDLab
- VAVS Home
- WHOCC for Vector-borne & NTDs
- Media
- Copyright and Terms of Use
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health & Medicine
- Pay review
How to develop group work skills online
To scaffold the development of group work skills, consider the skills that are required for effective collaboration on the particular assessment product. These skills may be needed in addition to those required to produce a similar assessment product individually. The skills may include:
1. Organisation and communication
Organisation and communication cover a range of professional micro-skills that subject coordinators want students to demonstrate. Tutorial activities and online resources can be used to explain and develop these skills as well as planning and development of group assessment product. (Activity 1 - Form groups of 4 (PDF, 1325 KB))
Explaining expectations of students allows them to perform as required:
Give explicit instructions for online behavioural expectations (“netiquette”):
- Example discussion board expectations (DOCX, 17 KB)
- Example email protocol (PDF, 240 KB)
- Teacher protocols: Using Collaborate
- Student netiquette: Using Collaborate (PDF, 529 KB)
- Give students tools: Group contract and group action plan (DOCX, 16 KB)
Use Stage 1 and 2 E-tivities on Learn一本道discussions to develop organisation and communication:
Suggest (but do not mandate) to students that they upload profile pictures of themselves to facilitate personal connection in discussion boards
Asynchronous collaboration in LearnJCU:
- Discussion boards
- Are for whole cohort discussion on a set topic and are the best vehicle for e-tivities
- Student Learn一本道help guide: using discussion boards
- Group discussion boards
- Are visible to members of groups and the moderator
- Class conversations
- Are available to the entire cohort and are linked to a specific item in the subject site eg an Ultra document
- Student Learn一本道help guide: using class conversations
- Group class conversations
- Are visible to members of assessment groups and are linked to a specific assessment item eg assessment dropbox
- Student Learn一本道help guide: using group conversations
- Also dropbox, Facebook email but records of participation are harder to share with lecturers
Synchronous communication
- Collaborate rooms
- Are available to students in assessment groups. Collaborate rooms can be set up using group conversations.
- Google docs
- Can be used to write documents synchronously, these can be shared with staff using staff gmail addresses.
- Staff can see revision history of documents to monitor relative contribution by students.
- OneDrive
- Can allow students to have secure shared documents to avoid version control issues, however live documents cannot be shared with staff due to the different O365 tenancies.
- Documents can be downloaded and uploaded to LearnJCU
- O365: Email, One Drive and Office
Additional resources to support student group work including a group action plan and tips and tools for online meetings for students.
- Archee, R., Gurney, M., & Mohan, T. (2013). (3rd ed.). Cengage.
- Hoppe, M., and Hoppe, M. (2006) . Centre for creative leadership.
2. Equitable contribution
Some assessment tasks require evidence of equal or equitable contributions from students in the group, for example, oral presentations may require each student to present a section, whereas other assessment products may not articulate contributions from each student. Planning tools can assist the students to achieve equitable contributions, regardless of whether the product has identified student contributions.
Planning can reduce conflict between group members.
Explaining expectations of students allows them to perform as required:
- Group contract (DOCX, 16 KB) provides Subject Coordinator’s explicit expectations regarding contribution (Maybury’s two laws - Being ethical and responsible (PDF, 1144 KB))
- Group action plan (DOCX, 16 KB) allow students to set expectations collaboratively in assessment groups
- Assessment description can state how equity of students’ contributions will be assessed to promote students’ individual accountability
- Group contribution summary
- Records of participation
- Brainstorming with Crawford’s Slip Method can mitigate the tendency of confident contributors to dominate group interactions
- Self-awareness and identification of strengths and ways of working
- ‘How do you work?’ tool (Which one are you? Tutorial activity (PDF, 1355 KB))
Alternatively, group work can result in partial or completely individual assessment. Assessment tasks can require collaborative process and yet maintain identifiably individual contributions which are then assessed. In this example, peer-to-peer learning is used in a multi-staged assessment task with individual contributions. The stages comprise an initial position statement, response to group members’ position statement and reflection.
- Hasson, G. (2017). . Capstone.
3. Leadership and self-management
Leadership and self-management development activities include:
- Description of examples and contrast with non-examples for interpersonal behavioural styles (Archer & Hughes 2010)
- Modelling of analysis of exemplars, scenarios of mixed communication or behavioural styles
- Reflective prompts to develop self-awareness and social intelligence (Hasson, 2017)
- Role establishment can provide structure to assist students in working effectively by utilising personal strengths: List of group roles and functions (adapted from Benne and Sheats (1948)
- Awareness and management of communication style can assist with relationship management
- See “Dialling down heightened emotions” in (Hasson, 2017)
- Negotiation and conflict resolution (excellent student conflict support modules for tertiary students).
- Bunting, M. (2016) . Wiley
- Lewis, S. (2016). . Wiley Blackwell
- Archer, A. And Hughes, (2010). : effective and efficient teaching. Guildford Press (see non-examples and active participation)
- Hasson, G. (2017). John Wiley and Sons, Incorporated
- Archee, R., Gurney, M., & Mohan, T. (2013). (3rd ed.). Cengage.
4. Giving and receiving feedback
Both giving and receiving feedback are nuanced and learned skills that require explicit instruction and many opportunities for development.
Subject coordinators can provide scaffolding such as:
- Feedback banks to use in peer assessments
- Clear instructions on the type and scope of feedback required for peer assessments
- Modelling provision of feedback in context
- Role playing opportunities with scenarios involving difficult conversations
- Activities to develop giving and receiving feedback can include analysis and reworking of destructive, inaccurate or inconsiderate feedback, examples can be found in TV shows, YouTube videos
- Reflection of previous difficult conversations, see Hasson (2017) for reflection prompts.
- Boud (1994) provides concise and considered advice that can be adapted to many contexts
- Hasson, G. (2017). Managing criticism in . John Wiley and Sons, Incorporated.
Overall
- Brown, R. E. (2001).The process of community-building in distance learning classes. Internet High Educ.;5(2),18–35.
- Lilley, K. (2014). .
- Chen, J. (2012). .John Wiley & Sons
- Scannell, E. and Newstrom, J. (1997). . McGraw-Hill Education
- Garrison, D.R. and Arbaugh, J.B. (2007). . Internet High Educ. (10),157–72.
- Rickards, T. and Moger, S. (2000). . Br J Manag. (11),273–83.
- Tuckman B. (1965) . Psychol Bull 63(6):384–99.
- Shuman, L., Besterfield-Sacre, M. and McGourtey, J. (2005)