Enabling Inclusive Group Work

Abstract

Group and team work promote key employability skills, required by many degree accrediting bodies, and are viewed as active and authentic ways of learning, supporting the construction of knowledge among peers. However, managing expectations, group dynamics, and assessing group and individual contributions is challenging. Group work approaches that consider diversity and promote equitable participation by all students, enhance the culture of the learning environment and are more likely to lead to productive group interactions. Here, we focus on the development of guidance on inclusive teaching and learning for university lecturers and students involved in group work (both face-to-face and online), as part of an anticipatory approach for including students with disabilities. A collaborative approach with a range of stakeholders across our institution was taken to scope and iteratively develop a set of guidance materials. Initial discussions involving students with disabilities from different disciplines identified a set of issues and some recommendations. Interviews conducted with relevant staff corroborated and extended these ideas, which were used as a basis for developing professional development resources for staff leading group work activities. The resources developed were then trialled and refined based on staff feedback. The student focus group and staff interview findings were then reviewed to refocus on issues relevant to the design of group work activities. The findings provided a basis for critically reviewing the group work activities with the designers of a recently developed module, and to make recommendations for the designers creating group work activities for a new module. This process of working with academics to review and inform group work designs, is currently being abstracted to produce recommendations for group work designers. A further iteration with students is also underway to extend guidance materials for students working in groups, to raise awareness of student diversity and approaches to accommodate students with disabilities. Engaging stakeholders in the iterative development of guidance for inclusive group work has revealed issues but also offered solutions. For example, students identified the benefits of having information in advance to help reduce anxiety and allow them to plan (e.g. for extra study time). Students also noted that how group work is initiated affects the extent to which they feel included throughout the activities. It became clear that leaders have a specific role in setting the tone and expectations for the group (e.g. the need to be considerate and respectful of each student) and then modelling the desired behaviour. Aspects of module design that were determined as being essential for inclusive group work included the choice of tools for communicating; scheduling enough time for reading and thinking; establishing a range of roles and agreeing tasks within the group (e.g. data gatherer); and designing contingencies into tasks that minimise the impact of delays or in...

Designing for Wellbeing: An Inclusive Learning Design Approach with Student Mental Health Vignettes

“…These barriers are explored in more depth in a different publication (Lister et al, 2021), but the examples given in this paper do support the broader literature in this area. For example, the barrier presented by the 'Cognitive load of studying when in low mental health' aligns with Weller et al's findings about students withdrawing from study due to feeling 'overwhelmed' by curriculum content (Weller et al, 2018); studies have linked distressing curriculum content with mental health challenges for students (Bentley, 2017;Slavin et al, 2014); 'anxiety around groupwork' is a theme in the literature (McPherson et al, 2019), and there are many studies aiming to understand or alleviate stress around exams or assessment (Jones et al, 2020). This supports research contentions that triggers for mental health difficulties can reside within higher education environments, systems and curricula as well as within the individual (Lister et al, 2021;Markoulakis & Kirsh, 2013;Tinklin et al, 2005).…”

“…Such activities tend to push students out of their comfort zone and are also associated with higher rates of success . However, research shows that these collaborative activities are associated with higher levels of student anxiety (McPherson et al, 2019). Thorpe (2008, p. 59) also notes that students tend only to engage with collaborative activities which are linked to assessment, and stresses it is crucial to make the process "enjoyable as well as mandatory" to maximize effective engagement.…”

Assessment, life circumstances, curriculum and skills: Barriers and enablers to student mental wellbeing in distance learning

“…Baik et al also found that assessment design impacted on wellbeing, with student perceptions of clarity and fairness in design being particularly critical (2019), while Hill et al highlight impacts of assessment feedback on student wellbeing (2021). Specific assessment activities, such as groupwork, can be a barrier for wellbeing ( McPherson et al, 2019 ), while impacts of power dynamics involved in faculty-centred as opposed to student-centred pedagogies have been found to affect students’ confidence and wellbeing ( Felton and Stickley, 2004 ; Hill et al, 2019 ). Feeling ‘overwhelmed’ has been linked to student withdrawal ( Weller et al, 2018 , p: 43), and, of course, failure and fear of failure are also major contributors to student academic stress or distress ( Whittle et al, 2020 ).…”

“…For example, Tinklin et al identified ‘Lack of understanding among lecturers’ and ‘badly designed learning experiences’ as barriers (2005, p: 510), and Baik et al found that lack of clarity in teaching materials, low levels of classroom interaction and lack of variety in activities impacted negatively on wellbeing (2019). Specific activities, such as groupwork, can be a barrier for wellbeing ( McPherson et al, 2019 ), while impacts of power dynamics involved in faculty-centred as opposed to student-centred pedagogies have been found to affect students’ confidence and wellbeing ( Felton and Stickley, 2004 ; Hill et al, 2019 ). Feeling ‘overwhelmed’ by curriculum content has been linked to student withdrawal ( Weller et al, 2018 , p: 43), and distressing curriculum content has been shown to present particular mental health challenges for some students ( Slavin et al, 2014 ; Bentley, 2017 ).…”

Participatory digital approaches to embedding student wellbeing in higher education

“…For example, Tinklin et al (2005) identified "Lack of understanding among lecturers" and "badly designed learning experiences" as barriers (p. 510), and Baik et al (2019) found that lack of clarity in teaching materials, low levels of classroom interaction and lack of variety in activities impacted negatively on wellbeing. Specific activities, such as groupwork, can be a barrier for wellbeing (McPherson et al, 2019), while impacts of power dynamics involved in faculty-centered as opposed to student-centered pedagogies have been found to affect students' confidence and wellbeing (Felton and Stickley, 2004;Hill et al, 2019). Feeling "overwhelmed" by curriculum content has been linked to student withdrawal (Weller et al, 2018, p. 43), and distressing curriculum content has been shown to present particular mental health challenges for some students (Slavin et al, 2014;Bentley, 2017).…”