How can group work be used to increase student motivation and engagement?

1 Why group work matters

Group work can be extremely beneficial for students, as it can increase their interest and involvement in the learning content and activities. It also helps to develop their social and communication skills, such as listening, negotiating, and giving feedback. Furthermore, it enhances their critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as they share and compare different perspectives and approaches. Additionally, it can improve their self-confidence and self-efficacy, as they receive support and recognition from their peers. Finally, it promotes a sense of belonging and community, as they build relationships and trust with their classmates.

3 How to facilitate successful group work

To ensure successful group work, you should monitor and support the groups during the group work, as well as provide feedback and evaluation after the group work. Some strategies that can be employed to facilitate this include establishing clear expectations and norms for the group work, providing scaffolding and guidance for the group work, creating opportunities for interaction and collaboration among the groups, and assessing the process and product of the group work. You should communicate the purpose, goals, and criteria of the group work to students, help them plan, manage, and execute the group work, foster a positive and respectful group climate, promote intergroup cooperation and exchange of ideas, measure and reward individual and group performance, and involve students in self-assessment and peer-assessment of the group work.

5 How to overcome the challenges of group work

Group work can also present some difficulties for students and lecturers, such as free-riding or social loafing when some group members do not contribute enough or rely on others to do the work for them, dominance or conflict when some members take control of the group work and prevent others from participating, and motivation or engagement when some members are not interested in the group work. To address these issues, you can use strategies such as individual accountability, positive interdependence, collaborative skills, and group processing techniques to prevent or reduce free-riding; collaborative skills, group processing, and positive interdependence techniques to prevent or resolve dominance or conflict; and positive interdependence, individual accountability, and group processing techniques to enhance motivation or engagement. Additionally, you can intervene and address the issue with the group or the individual, mediate and facilitate the group communication and decision-making, or design group work that is relevant, meaningful, challenging, and varied for the students.