The following information comes from a presentation in 2023, How to fix a functioning group work with Eva Hammar Chiriac (LIU) and Margareta Jernås (GU) and from the book Handbook for group work. Feel free to take part in the presentation in its entirety, unfortunately only in Swedish, or immerse yourself in the book "Handbok för grupparbete". You can also read more about group work in the book Academic Teaching / Universitetspedagogik, pages 227-234.

Group work as a pedagogical method

There is strong scientific support that working in groups benefits students' learning both in terms of subject knowledge and collaboration skills. There is even research that shows that group work leads to better knowledge development than other types of collaboration. Primarily, this is due to the interactivity in the group, i.e. that the students have to listen, formulate, problematize and argue for their thoughts and ideas. Activities that have had a positive impact on learning.

Working in a group can be defined in two different categories:

Working in a group
- Sitting next to each other but no cooperation takes place. Instead, it is individual work in groups. When submitting, the individual parts are compiled into a complete submission.
- Social facilitation: The presence and observation of classmates increases the motivation to perform.
Working as a group
- "Real group work" / "Meaningful group work"
- Requires common aspirations and goals Assumes interdependence. That is, everyone in the group is needed to solve the task.
- The effect of cooperation is better learning.
- Rarer in teaching than "Working in a group"

What is the function of group work?

The purpose of group work must always be to promote learning. The teacher must therefore define what is the main purpose of the collaboration:

Objective: Promote the social skills of the group members
- Increase participants' collaboration skills
Means: Promote the academic performance of group participants
- The group becomes a base for learning
- The group's activities are primarily for acquiring knowledge and stimulation for learning, such as problem-based learning.
Both: Group work is a learning environment that is used both as a goal and a means.

Task design

Research shows that the design of the assignment is of great importance for the students' learning and how the work in the group takes shape. The assignment also affects the students' experience of group work, whether it is positive or negative. Rachel Lotan describes this as the task must be a group-worthy task. Meaning:

What should students learn by working in groups?
The task must require cooperation. I.e. difficult to solve individually. If the task is "breakable" between the participants, then recurring collaboration in the whole group must be required.
Multiple answer options are preferable to one correct answer. If there is only one answer, there must be several possible paths to this answer.
The task should strive to be multidimensional. That is, require different abilities, different academic and social skills. This opens up for more students to contribute, which benefits equality, inclusion and ambition in the group.
The topic must be relevant to the education.
Clear criteria for assessment are part of the task. What is assessed, how it is assessed, when it is assessed and by whom? Criteria that must be clearly communicated to the students.

To make the invisible visible!

When starting a group work, it is good if time is set aside for the group to discuss and agree on how the work should actually be conducted, such as division of responsibilities, level of ambition, goals, meeting times and that everyone has a common understanding of the task. That is: That the invisible is made visible to the group's participants. One way to do this is through a so-called group contract. This contract should not be static, but a living document that the group can return to during the work. If problems arise in the group, the group contract can act as a support and help resolve conflicts by clarifying the agreements made.

When group work is in progress, it is important to pay attention to group processes. A positive group process, where members support each other, can increase productivity. The opposite can reduce motivation and negatively affect the group's work. Two different group processes are Social Facilitation, i.e. the participants work better when other participants are present. The opposite is "social loafing". The participants are not present physically or work-wise, which reduces motivation in the group. In the case of the latter, students must contact the teacher and somehow change the group's conditions. If this is not done during the work, both the results and the process will suffer. The teacher's accessibility is also crucial. Students appreciate when the teacher is present and available for support and guidance throughout the process. It is also important to create a psychologically safe environment where all team members feel that they can express themselves without fear of negative consequences. Psychological safety means that members dare to be themselves, ask questions and admit mistakes without feeling judged or ridiculed.

Feedback

Feedback is a key element of the learning process and should be concrete and specific and focus on both performance and content. Be constructive, continuous and remember to define your feedback. That is, if the word "good" is used, it must also be stated what and why it is good. If the definition is missing, the feedback means nothing to the student.

Feed up: Where do I go? What is the goal? A summative assessment of the current situation
Feedback: How have I done it? A formative assessment for continued learning.
Feed forward: What should I do to get better? Develops the ability to self-judge.

Feedback can be time-consuming. Try to provide more general feedback at the class and/or group level to save time and resources. Or stay in the room and give feedback depending on what the groups are discussing, what phase the work is in, and more.