Exploring Online Group Work Using Tuckman’s Model

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic's movement control order has forced leading public universities in Malaysia to switch their conventional face-to-face lectures to online distance learning. Having less contact with classmates and lecturer, group work to fulfil coursework assessment requires learners adapting themselves to this "new normal" in higher education studies. Maintaining good group work dynamics could be challenging due to distance and conflicts. Therefore, this study aimed to discover concerning issues in online group work using Tuckman's Model. Using a quantitative research approach, this study distributes questionnaires at the end of the semester using Google Forms to purposely select 116 respondents from a public university in Malaysia. These students have been involved in group work for their online distance learning since 2020. The data later were analysed using SPSS and results were presented as mean scores for every research question. The results show teaching presence (mean score = 4.2) is crucial to building students' understanding in the forming stage of group work. In the second stage of storming and norming group work, social presence (mean score = 3.8) is highly favourable by students rather than working alone to ensure interactivity, communication and collaboration within the group. The findings also indicated that in the later stage of performing, cognitive presence (mean score = 4.3) was found to have direct positive impacts on online group work. Students are braver to speak up and defend their ideas in online group work discussions. Despite challenges in group work distance learning, learners could adapt to the new normal in higher learning education studies. Changes and coping strategies are needed to address the findings of this research to improve teaching and learning pedagogy in this post-COVID-19 era. Future research may explore teachers' insights of online group work and cover respondents from cross faculty clusters. Learners' perceptions could also be explored qualitatively.

A Study of Relationship between Variables in Group Behaviour among Undergraduates

“…Kirschner et al (2018) in his study found that those who contribute more in collaborative learning environments will have greater cognitive benefits. This is evident in the performing stage as highlighted by Rick et al (2022) which provides a positive impact on the cognitive presence of working in a group among the respondents in terms of integration, exploration, and resolution of the ideas that have been discussed among group mates. Zaharuddin et al (2022) suggest that the important aspect of group work is the social interaction where students are able to interact, communicate their ideas openly, collaborate to complete tasks and improve their learning capability while doing group work.…”

“…The study by Rick et al (2022) shows that in the stage of storming and norming, online group work is highly favourable. The students can interact, communicate, and collaborate with their group mates to complete group tasks.…”

“…This is to allow a deeper understanding of how the specifics of group dynamics impact learning and collaboration and further develop the interpretation of learner-to-learner interactions. Students from various disciplines that experience different coursework assessment plans and group working tasks should also be considered for broader perspectives (Rick et al, 2022;Hani et al, 2022). Thereupon, it will be apt to guide teachers to overcome the challenges they face and thus, can easily manage the group work.…”

Stages in Group Work: Is There A Relationship Among Them?

“…Kirschner et al (2018) and Poort et al (2019) have also identified that active participation in collaborative learning settings yields cognitive advantages, particularly for those who contribute significantly. Leopold and Smith (2019), Salas et al (2008), andMohd Rick et al (2022) also highlight the positive influence of active participation regarding cognitive presence within groups, encompassing integration, exploration, and resolution of shared ideas among group members for a more positive group experience. Engaging in group dynamics cultivates individual competencies such as effective communication, maturity, and organizational prowess, thereby enriching the collaborative learning encounter (Guttenberg, 2019;Zheng et al, 2019).…”

Investigation of Learners’ Perceptions of Stages in Group Work

“…Brown (2001) defines group work as a common term that covers a wide array of techniques in which two or more students are assigned a task that involves collaboration and self-initiated language. Richards, et. al (1985) mentions group work as a learning activity which involves a small group of learners working together on a single task or different parts of a larger task.…”