Guidelines for student groupwork/teamwork

1. Students should receive training in groupwork/teamwork activities at an early stage in their university career. Further training should be provided where students are required to undertake more advanced and specialised forms of groupwork/teamwork activity.

   (Training might cover such items as: handling group dynamics; multicultural groupworking/teamworking; embedding equal opportunities good practice in groupworking/teamworking; developing group/team presentational skills; implementing peer assessment; strategies for integrating part-time students into groups/teams)

2. Schools should develop strategies for an integrated and progressive development of groupwork/teamwork skills for students studying on existing programmes and in designing and approving new programme areas. Ideally students should experience a variety of forms of groupwork/teamwork to avoid 'groupwork-fatigue' arising from the repetition of similar activities from module to module.

   (The strategy may also seek a balance between the academic desirability of groupwork/teamwork and more efficient use of resources arising from the student-centred approach inherent in groupwork/teamwork)

3. Each major piece of groupwork/teamwork should provide students with clear learning objectives with a design that assists students to achieve the objectives.

   (The design may include an introductory session where the tutor(s) sets out: the principles for group/team selection and ways of assessing work; agreement on how groups/teams will be monitored (by tutors?by peers?both?); agreement on coping strategies for groups/teams experiencing difficulties; a description of how assessment links to the learning objectives)

4. Tutors need to ensure there is a fair system of assessment which ideally should include an appropriate weighting of assessment for both interactive elements and individual tasks.

   (The assessment design may be described in learning contracts and include: tutor(s) marking; vivas with tutor(s); peer marking to agreed criteria; tutor intervention for settling disagreements; mechanisms for feedback to groups/individuals)

5. Students should be required to evaluate and reflect upon the experience and learning they have gained in groupwork/teamwork activity.

   (At the module level evaluation and reflection may be embedded in the assessment process but there could also be longer term review illustrated in student progress files/profiling statements)

6. Schools should provide the resources required for groupwork/teamwork and, in partnership with the university, support staff development required for the promotion and delivery of groupwork/teamwork.

   (Mechanisms/Initiatives for providing support include: OCSLD training commitments to Schools; pedagogic research funding; project work on the OCSLD Cert.Ed course)