Why use group projects in your course? Group projects provide an effective way for your students to complete a complex task that they could not complete alone and students working on a group project experience many additional benefits. For example, multiple empirical research articles report that students who work in group outperform students who work individually. The benefits that students experience when working cooperatively compared to working individually are highlighted below (Johnson, 2014).
Benefits of working cooperatively for students
- Use higher-level reasoning skills that promote deep learning more frequently.
- Are more accurate and creative when problem solving.
- Exhibit greater willingness to take on difficult tasks and persist.
- Experience more intrinsic motivation.
- Better able to transfer learning from one situation to another.
- Spend more time on task.
The ability to work effectively as a part of a group is a skill that is highly valued by employers. Both the National Association of College + Employers (NACE) and the Career Readiness initiative (UMTC College of Liberal Arts) identify teamwork and leadership as core career competencies. According to NACE and the Career Readiness core competencies, students competent in Teamwork and Leadership are able to:
- Work collaboratively across diverse interpersonal styles to leverage the strengths of the group to achieve a shared vision or objective.
- Understand their own roles and responsibilities within a group, and how they may change in differing situations.
- Influence others without necessarily holding a formal position of authority, and have the willingness to take action.
- Manage and resolve conflict
Do Students Want to Work in Groups?
Students often have a negative reaction to seeing a group project on a syllabus. One published study indicated that the overwhelming majority of students preferred working alone to working in group (Raidal, 2009). However, this is usually due to a previous bad experience working in groups. These experiences include poorly designed projects with little support from the instructor, group members who didn’t collaborate or complete their share of the work on the project, feeling that the project was just busywork, concern about grading, and difficulties meeting outside of class due to conflicting schedules (Scager, 2016; McKay & Sridharan, 2024). This site will provide you with information and resources you need to help mitigate these pitfalls.
References
- Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., Smith, K. A., The state of cooperative learning In postsecondary and professional settings. Educational Psychology Review 19, 15 – 29 (2007).
- Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., Smith, K. A., Cooperative learning: Improving university instruction by basing practice on validated theory. Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 25, (3&4), 85 - 118 (2014).
- McKay, J., & Sridharan, B. (2024). Student perceptions of collaborative group work (CGW) in higher education. Studies in Higher Education, 49(2), 221–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2023.2227677
- National Association of Colleges and Employers. (2024). What is career readiness? https://www.naceweb.org/career-readiness/competencies/career-readiness-defined/
- Raidal, S.L. & Volet, S.E. Preclinical students’ predispositions towards social forms of instruction and self-directed learning: A challenge for the development of autonomous and collaborative learners, Higher Education, 57, 577-596 (2009).
- Scager, K., Boonstra, J. Peeters, T., Vulperhorst, J. Wiegant, F., Collaborative learning in higher education: Evoking positive interdependence. CBE Life Science Education, 15:ar69 (2016).