Abstract:

Higher education has seen many changes in teaching and assessment approaches over the years. A feature of these changes in more recent years has been the use of teamwork (also referred to as group work). Much research in this area focuses on the key skills acquired by students when they engage proactively in teamwork, and the importance of these skills for graduates’ employability (Elgort et al., 2008; Payne et al. 2004). Further to this, there is significant literature on the factors which are essential for effective teamwork to occur in a tertiary environment (Volkov, A. and Volkov, M. 2015; Scott-Ladd, B. and Chan, C. 2008). A gap however, is seen to exist in this literature on the student perspective. Without an insight into the student’s experience of teamwork, the literature in this area is incomplete.

In this context, the objective of this study is to explore teamwork from the students’ perspective. Focus groups with a cohort of students from one department in one Higher Education institution were conducted. The findings highlight that often seemingly minor issues of concern to educators designing teamwork, are the issues that are of primary concern to students. These areas of concern include the method used to create a team, the size of the team, the availability of resources necessary for effective teamwork and the method of grading the work of the team members.

The findings indicate that the use of teamwork in Higher Education needs to be reassessed in light of the students’ perspective. Strategies need to be developed to better design, monitor and evaluate the work that is being done in teams in order for the students to receive the identified benefits of teamwork and for teamwork to be an effective teaching and learning activity in Higher Education.

References:
[1] Volkov, A. & Volkov, M. (2015), Teamwork benefits in tertiary education: Student perceptions that lead to best practice assessment design, Education and Training, 57 (3), pp.262-278
[2] Elgort, I., Smith, A. G., & Toland, J. (2008), Is wiki an effective platform for group course work?”Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 24 (2), pp.195-210.
[3] Payne, B. K., Monl-Turner, E., Smith, D., & Sumter, D. (2004). Improving group work: voices of students. Education, 126 (3), pp. 441-448.
[4] Scott-Ladd, B., & Chan, C. C. A. (2008), Using action research to teach students to manage team learning and improve teamwork satisfaction. Active Learning in Higher Education, 9 (3), 231–248.

Keywords:

Teamwork, Student Perspective.