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Collaborative learning has many benefits. Research suggests that effective and functional team learning can enhance students’development both academically and mentally, for example, resulting in better school performance, more effective relationships with people and better communication skills.
As teamwork has to be organized to leverage its strengths, educators should offer clear instruction to students. By summarizing and evaluating Turning Student Groups into Effective Teams (Oakley et al., 2004) in this blog post, the four major practical factors will be introduced:forming teams, converting groups into effective teams, peer rating and frequently asked questions.
PART 1. Team Formation
A. Instructors as the leaders can benefit team formation a lot:
1. Balance the power of students
Students tend to cooperate with people of the same level. If self-selection is allowed, the team formation may be:
However, the instructor can manage the power of each group, and the team formation can be:
2. Avoid teamwork problems
Oakley et al. suggest that the self-selected team is more likely to cheat as a result of a common corner-cutting mindset and a tendency to coverfor one another.
B. Criteria we should follow:
- The ideal team members should vary in ability levels and be free at the same time.
- Teachers should avoid isolating the minority students to reduce the possibility of their dropping out, especially in the first two years of a curriculum.
Note: Non-isolation rule can be abandoned in the third year for the risk of dropping out becomes minimal at that time and it is an important lesson for juniors to learn how to avoid isolation within a team by themselves.
C. Information collection
- The instructor should collect students’ information on the first day of the curriculum.
- An information-collecting form designed based on the criteria of team formation is needed.
D. Team transformation
- Team resolving and reformation is necessary in the 4-6 week of a curriculum and should be operated no more than once.
- Reasonable request of team resolving is acceptable. (e.g. the team can remain when all members are willing to stay together.)
PART 2. Make the Team Effective
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A. Establishing expectations
- It is suggested to develop a clear set of guidelines for the team and let members form expectations of each other.
- It is also good to negotiate a team name, which reflects the common interests of students.
B. A preliminary instruction on effective team practices
Rather than giving extensive instruction in the classroom, it is more effective to provide precautionary notes first and then provide targeted guidance as problems arise. Following are some suggestions to avoid the most common cooperative mistakes made by students.
- Take each role you are assigned seriously, which will allow you to learn a wide range of skills.
- Don’t divide and conquer, you need to understand each part of the assignment so that you can get a full grasp of the knowledge.
- Solutions to problems should not be arrived at together in a discussion. because everyone’s speed is different. Each member can provide a solution individually, and then discuss the details together.
C. Dealing with problem team members
The most common problems:
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The authors suggest several techniques for helping students:
- Hand out the group cooperation evaluation form from which students can find the shortcomings of the group more rationally and intuitively.
- When students encounter non-cooperative members, refer to expectations previously set to deal with these situations.
- Run periodic 10-minute “crisis clinics.” Present problems that need to be solved, such as the hitchhiker. This serves as a warning to some troublemakers.
PART 3. Peer-rating
As peer review and grading can offer a more comprehensive and objective evaluation, approaches are proposed to help grade adjustment in teamwork:
- Declare the contribution proportion of each group member within the group.
- Assess the “team citizenship” of different members in the group, which focuses more on cooperation and responsibilities taken.
PART 4. Conclusion
When instructors conduct cooperative learning, the methods above can help turn student groups into effective teams. This mind map offers suggestions regarding some principal points in these steps.
“Last, do not be bound rigidly by any ofthe policies you formulate.” (Oakley et al., 2004) Students have different situations, issues, and needs, and no rule can be establishedwithout reasonable exceptions. Trust your judgment, and don’t hesitate to exercise it.
PART 5. Discussion
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There are still a variety of issues to face when coaching teamwork. Here are some frequently asked questions. Do you have some good ideas about these questions?
Q1: Instead of taking on the roles they were assigned (recorder, coordinator, checker, etc.), some teams packaged the issues so that each teammember only had to do a quarter of the work. What should I do about this?
Q2: I had a terrible team in my course – they were constantly arguing and complaining about each other. Did the cooperative learning fail, or did I fail?
Q1:
I think it’s important to assign different roles to the team members. First of all, I will actively discuss with other members whether they can work in roles. Second, if members insist on packing up the tasks, I would suggest checking each other’s parts after we have finished our work.
Q2:
When I participate in the cooperative learning, I meet a team that often argued and complained. Perhaps I would not directly think that the cooperative learning failed or that I personally failed. Cooperative learning itself is a good learning method that can pool the wisdom and strength of multiple people to complete a large task. If a group is constantly arguing and complaining, it may be that the tasks or roles within the group are not properly assigned. Then we should have a positive attitude to participate in the group discussion. When the tasks or roles of the group are assigned, each person can play a different role to complete the group task. I think a good way to solve this problem is a group discussion.
One interesting point to consider regarding conflict is that it isn’t necessarily a bad thing on its own. Sometimes conflict can be a sign of a team working well to take into account the diverse perspectives of its members. Doing so effectively can often result in a better product.
1. I will advise that each team member take a specific role. Identifying each member’s area of expertise and assigning them the relevant tasks can realize the potential of each member as much as possible and maximize effectiveness. If everyone does the same amount of work in the team, they do not familiar with others’ work. This may result in overlaps in output, which needs more time for modifications.
2. Even though team members do not cooperate well with each other, I think I can still learn something from this experience. Maybe I will try to find out the main reasons that lead to the argument and avoid them in my next teamwork. I may also learn some communicative skills when involving in the mediation process. So I will regard this experience as a warning and inspiration for my future cooperation rather than a failure.
1. Each team member must have their own role, which means that the team should partially assign tasks to every member. This is the foundation of team collaboration work.
2. If this phenomenon happens, it has no relation to cooperative learning, the problem may be that the team members are not satisfied with the assigned tasks, so the first step is to make some adjustments.
1. The team should partially allocate responsibilities to each participant because each member has a distinct role. This serves as the basis for team cooperation activities and may allow everyone to reach their potential.
2. It is not necessary to be a failed cooperation. I can still learn from others’ strengths that I am weak at and also learn how to communicate and negotiate with team members so that if the same issue happens in my work later I won’t freak out.
Q1I believe that each member of a team needs to have a clear division of labour and a clear understanding of their role, so that they can make the most of their strengths and advantages. A clear division of labour can also reduce problems such as unbalanced workload or overlap of work.
Q2 Not every cooperation is successful and smooth. If the cooperation goes well, we need to remember a similar pattern of cooperation . If it doesn’t go well, it’s more important to find out what went wrong, whether it was a lack of clarity in tasks or an uneven division of labour, etc. we should learn from the experience and avoid similar problems in the next collaboration.
Q1: I can understand that the even distribution of work is to achieve fairness and avoid free riders. However, in most cases it negatively affects the output of the group. First, if everyone takes on each task equally, their work may be fragmented or even contradictory. For example, if four members check a quarter of the database separately, they may use different standards, resulting in different data results. Second, members has their own strengths and weaknesses. To better finish the assignment, it is necessary to let each member do what they are really good at or interested in.
I have been in a similar situation once. To solve the problem, I first said that we could distribute work as fairly as possible, but not in this way, which might not lead to a good output. Then, I took the initiative to undertake more difficult or time-consuming work. Other team members could choose to do what they are interested in or good at. Interestingly, I found that when one team member showed his/her willingness to take on more workload, other members would appreciate that and make extra contributions.
Q2: From my experience, arguing or complaining is not always a bad thing. Because it means that each member has his or her own thinking and cares about the assignment. I will not be particularly frustrated or even doubt myself and the team in this situation. As the deadline approaches, the divergence will generally be resolved gradually. After all, everyone still hopes to get good grades.
“Other team members could choose to do what they are interested in or good at.” This is a great way to approach division of labour – especially if you have a diverse team.
Q1: I suggest that each group member should pick a certain role, by rolling dice or drawing lots to ensure fairness. Building clear roles is the most effective way to reach the goal of the group. If each one only picks a quarter of the work, what they do would overlap with each other, so it’s actually a waste of time as group members have to cut out the overlapped sections afterwards. If someone insists on packaging the issue, I would talk and negotiate with him or her kindly to find out his or her concerns and make a solution (such as adjusting the workload or clarifying the work of each role).
Q2: From my experience last semester, it is not a bad thing for team members to argue or complain with each other. In fact, arguing is another manifestation of cooperation. These arguments and complaints are either the result of personality conflicts among individuals or unsettled problems still to be solved. And the negative reactions of group members are actually a conflicting way of promoting the solution to the problem. If the problem is finally solved, they can reach cooperation and a good outcome. It is just like a debate, where the debaters are arguing but trying to get the same issue solved. Thus, from this kind of experience, one can learn different opinions and methods to solve a problem, which actually is a success of learning.
Q1: Well, I don’t think packaging the issues is a bad idea according to what we have been assigned and experienced during our courses. It has good sides. Everyone makes generally equal contributions to the teamwork and can not only avoid free riders or complaints about individual work overloads. To “understand each part of the assignment” and “get a full grasp of the knowledge,” group members can have a complete and comprehensive discussion and agree on the whole structure or directions or even detailed information before they divide their work. During the process, they can always communicate with each other. After the completion of their part, peer review and feedback can conduct. At least， for students like me, who are not ambitious and want to earn the credits, it works.
Q2: it seems to me that such cooperative learning tortures almost everyone. It is not me, and it is not you. It is just that we are soooo different in terms of our academic goals, work styles, or ways of thinking. Find the reasons why people argue and complain and fix them. If you can’t, accept them. No biggie. Tolerating the differences is one thing we can learn from these activities.
One interesting thing I observed is that sometimes students have already formed their team before they know the topic. They choose people instead of content like what they are interested in. Wonder if it is a Chinese thing or people’s nature.
That is a good and sharp observation. Maybe it’s just human nature to look for those familiar to form a group in order to minimize disputes and expect to cooperate smoothly to complete group tasks. This not only happens in China but also overseas among international students. Those students of the same cultural background or the same social community will naturally gather to form groups, and they would exclude those of different cultural backgrounds. But does this kind of forming a group, like “choosing people instead of content” can surely reach the goal of getting the jobs done? I’m actually sceptical about this. I’ve often seen bloggers (also international students) on a platform called Red Book posting that they have broken up with their friends on the same team after a violent quarrel over the division of labour, leaving them unable to maintain the friendship, let alone complete their group project. It could be the reason that people choosing each other know each other too well, and as all individuals have laziness in nature, these group members would expect others in the group to take more workload without scruple; and if everyone in the group thinks in this way, it would certainly lead to conflict and quarrel.
Q1: If some teams are not fulfilling their roles and dividing the work evenly, you can start by reminding the teams of the importance of working collaboratively and fulfilling their roles. You can also ask each team member to provide evidence of their contributions to the team’s work. If you find that some team members are not contributing as expected, you can work with them individually to help them understand the importance of their roles and contributions. It is also important to set clear expectations from the beginning and to monitor the teams’ progress regularly to ensure that they are working effectively.
Q2: You can start by facilitating a discussion with the team to understand the root cause of the conflict and to encourage them to express their concerns and feelings openly. You can also set up ground rules for effective communication and collaboration, such as active listening and respectful dialogue. It is also important to model positive behavior and provide ongoing support to help the team work through any issues.
Q1. I do consider it’s a good way for each member of a team to play a certain role,because each can make use of their own strengths to finish the task. But I think they should also involve others’ work in a certain degree, because the task is essentially a team work. When they finish their own work,they can help other members , but it doesn’t mean that they have to take some of the weight off others’ shoulders, just give some suggestions.
Q2. It’s common that there are some conflicts or complaints when cooperating with others. It doesn’t mean that the cooperation is failed or one member fail. If members can deal with the conflicts in a good manner, the task may be finished then it has been expected.
Q1. I do consider it’s a good way for each member of a team to play a certain role,because each can make use of their own strengths to finish the task. But I think they should also involve others’ work in a certain degree, because the task is essentially a team work. When they finish their own work,they can help other members , but it doesn’t mean that they have to take some of the weight off others’ shoulders, just give some suggestions.
Q2. It’s common that there are some conflicts or complaints when cooperating with others. It doesn’t mean that the cooperation is failed or one member fail. If members can deal with the conflicts in a good manner, the task may be finished then it has been expected.
Q1. I do consider it’s a good way for each member of a team to play a certain role,because each can make use of their own strengths to finish the task. But I think they should also involve others’ work in a certain degree, because the task is essentially a team work. When they finish their own work,they can help other members , but it doesn’t mean that they have to take some of the weight off others’ shoulders, just give some suggestions.
Q2. It’s common that there are some conflicts or complaints when cooperating with others. It doesn’t mean that the cooperation is failed or one member fail. If members can deal with the conflicts in a good manner, the task may be finished then it has been expected.
Q1. I do consider it’s a good way for each member of a team to play a certain role,because each can make use of their own strengths to finish the task. But I think they should also involve others’ work in a certain degree, because the task is essentially a team work. When they finish their own work,they can help other members , but it doesn’t mean that they have to take some of the weight off others’ shoulders, just give some suggestions.
Q2. It’s common that there are some conflicts or complaints when cooperating with others. It doesn’t mean that the cooperation is failed or one member fail. If members can deal with the conflicts in a good manner, the task may be finished then it has been expected.
Q1：Effective teamwork requires individuals to take on different roles depending on their skills, experience, and responsibilities. For example, the leader is responsible for guiding the team towards its goals, making decisions, and managing conflicts. The leader should be able to motivate and inspire team members, and should have strong communication and problem-solving skills. Meanwhile, the creative thinker is responsible for generating new ideas and solutions, and for bringing a fresh perspective to the team. The creative thinker should be able to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to problems. Additionally, the specialist is responsible for providing expertise in a particular area, such as finance, marketing, or technology. The specialist should have a deep understanding of their area of expertise and be able to provide guidance and support to other team members. By working together and leveraging each other’s strengths, teams can achieve their goals and be successful.
Q2：While teamwork can have many benefits, it can also present a number of challenges. For example, communication barriers such as language barriers, cultural differences, and conflicting communication styles can create misunderstandings and hinder collaboration. Besides, trust is essential for effective teamwork, but it can take time to build. If team members do not trust one another, they may be reluctant to share ideas or delegate responsibilities, which can lead to inefficiency and a lack of progress. Addressing these challenges requires effective communication, conflict management, trust-building, time management, and leadership skills.
My personal experience is good teamwork is a really really enjoyable experience in that we can not only learn from each other, but also build up good relationships to get long-term spiritual nutrition. But sometimes, the teamwork is not as satisfactory as we imagine. During such times, I find a common phenomenon is that Whoever can’t bear first does more or whoever is more care about the final grade does more.
The two questions above are also some common problems in teamwork. Here are some of my points of view.
A1: Equal distribution of team assignments is to avoid that no one in the team escapes the assignment. So If you didn’t want to distribute the task in such a straightforward way, what you should do is just post your comments and communicate with each other to put forward a better workload distribution. It will be better that you have your preliminary thoughts on distribution first and share it with them. You can list the drawbacks of equal distribution and try to persuade them that the re-organization of tasks is not for escaping the assignments, is for better completing the work. Communication is the key to cooperative tasks. So just feel free to communicate.
A2: First of all, do not suspect yourself. The failure of everything cannot define you as a failure. So keep confident to solve the problem. Secondly, you can take a critical perspective to see the constant quarrels. It on the other hand can represent that each of member in your team has a positive participation in the group work so that they freely deliver their own ideas and meet some discord in some issues. Congratulations! So keep a positive attitude to see the problem. Lastly, what you can do is communicate with each other to find their standpoints on the issue and then convene an open discussion to seek common ground while holding back differences. If you do everything but still cannot work, at least you learn some cooperative skills and many diverse opinions on some specific issue, It is still a not failed cooperative learning for yourself.
1. I think taking the roles would be better. So that everyone in the group has a clear division of labour and knows what they’re supposed to do.
2. From my perspective, there are many factors influencing effective partnerships. At least, I think the team members should get along well with each other in terms of personality. In my own experience, for example, students with similar or different personalities to me can have an effective cooperation process. Thus, I think everyone should know each other and then communicate openly, honestly, and listen actively, work together to find solutions.
1. One possible solution is to have a team meeting to discuss the issue openly and transparently. Encourage team members to share their thoughts and feelings about the situation, and ask everyone to work together to come up with a solution that works for everyone. It may be helpful to reiterate the importance of each team member fulfilling their assigned roles and responsibilities, and to discuss how each member can contribute to the team’s success.
In addition, it may be helpful to establish clear guidelines and expectations for how work is divided and communicated within the team. This can help prevent similar issues from arising in the future, and can promote a more collaborative and efficient work environment.
2.It’s possible that the team dynamics were influenced by factors such as personality clashes, communication breakdowns, or lack of clarity in expectations and roles. It’s important to address these issues proactively and provide guidance and support as needed. This could involve holding individual team member meetings, setting clear goals and expectations, providing feedback and coaching, or facilitating team-building exercises.
Q2: I hold that the cooperative learning doesn’t fail, in contrast, it’s a success. People are born with different ideas and thinking methods. It’s quite common to have disagreements among the discussion. It in fact shows that people are engaging in the activities and sharing their thoughts. However, if they argue or complain about each other, there may be some problems. It’s fine when they are arguing on the topics, but if they are occupied by other things. Some changes should be considered.
1. I don’t think that each group member being in charge of parts of the work is unacceptable. At least it is a good way to prevent free-riders and the unfairness of the workload, especially when everyone in the group knows little about the assignment they must finish. If they have brainstormed previously, I think each one holding part of the work can also work out. Although different people may be good at different things and be good at different roles, it is still necessary to experience other positions that they might “not be good at” so that they can have chances to practise other skills.
2. It should not be blamed on anyone. I think the critical point is effective communication. As what has been said in the previous comments, arguing is not always a bad thing. And the reason why they are complaining about each other may be the lack of communication. It is common that people hold different or even contradictory ideas from each other. Members can also negotiate with each other and learn from each other. Actually, I think that people may get a lot of inspiration when they are “arguing” with others.
1.Giving tasks to your team members to complete on schedule is an efficient strategy. I’ve had problems as a team leader like miscommunication about the tasks and imprecise instructions. Establishing specific requirements for each team member’s job, duties, and success factors can have an immediate good effect. It guarantees that: Everyone is competent. Although it seems straightforward, when roles are defined, people know what is expected of them, how to conduct, and what they’re supposed to do.
2.It seems to me that teamwork learning has failed.
According to the circumstances, the failure of this teamwork obviously needs to be addressed. If the team members are constantly complaining to one another about the current output because they are dissatisfied with it, I believe that there may have been a miscommunication before to the project’s start, as well as an issue with the project’s direction and final output target.
You can change everyone’s job and fairly distribute tasks if you merely complain about the unfair workload. It should be highlighted that these potential issues can be avoided if the rules and shared objectives are made clear prior to cooperation.
I don’t think the collaborative learning failed and I think you can do something to improve it. For example, you can offer enough support and guidance to the team members and try to create a positive and supportive atmosphere in your team. At the same time, you can provide your group members with clear guidelines and expectations for cooperative learning.I believe that through your efforts, your group cooperation will get better and better.
From my personal experience, it is interesting to notice that whether it is a team selected by the teacher or a team formed by students based on their own interests, everyone still tends to think that “each team member only had to do a quarter of the work” is the fairest way. This is the fairest way because the workload of each member is best quantified and there will be no complaints about who did more or who did less, although in this way, the group work is more stitched together rather than integrated. However, if we divide the work by role, the workload of each role will be different. For example, if a coordinator needs to keep up with the group’s progress, but a group leader only needs to assign tasks, it is obviously unfair to the individuals in the group. Therefore, while the ideal is for each member of the group to play his or her own role, the most effective method of distributing the work is to divide it into equal parts and then do each one individually.
And if there are problems with group assignments, honestly I don’t feel like it’s my problem or that I lack communication and collaboration skills. I’m confident and I’m sure that I will try my best to do my part in every group assignment and negotiate with others (i.e., I’m willing to make big concessions to keep the group going), but if in that case it that doesn’t work and the group ends up in a mess, then it cannot be my problem, it’s owing to the bad teammate(s). In fact, in my previous group work, I had occasionally encountered situations where the group members were not online and could not be reached as a meeting had been planned before. When dealing with the group paper, I could still touch up his part, but in the group presentation part, I can’t go up and help him speak and present. So when it comes to that presentation, the final effect was actually a little unsatisfactory. But this is not my problem, but his. I think sometimes, in group work, not always taking all the mistakes and responsibilities on ourselves is also an ability that we need to learn, isn’t it?
Good teamwork is helpful and necessary as it helps construct a comfortable working environment and improve work efficiency. A common issue to be addressed during teamwork is unequal workload distribution. Some team members are reluctant to take on specific roles in the assignment because some roles need to take more responsibility and bear more workload. To solve the problem, team members should negotiate the allocation of the tasks to make sure that each member can give full play to their strengths and bear reasonable responsibility for the assignment.