This resource will explain why group work is often used for classroom activities and assessments, and how it is important, not only for your studies, but also for your professional life.
What is group work?
Group work, or ‘collaborative learning’, broadly refers to students working together to answer questions, work on course material or solve problems (Colbeck, Campbell & Bjorklund 2000). It is frequently used in education because it is recognised that social interaction is a critical factor in an individual’s intellectual development (Lin 2015). Also, having the ability to work effectively as a group member is an important skill that you will need throughout your professional life. When your group is working well, you will be engaged in an ongoing process of communicating, generating ideas and planning, working individually and together on aspects of the plan, and drawing all the components together to reach a goal.
Visit our Group Work resource for further information on managing the group work process.