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Challenges in group discussions

In this video, Lina and Hayder talk about some benefits of learning how to work effectively in groups and the problems you may come across.
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Group work is common on courses and is often assessed. Group work is really important in academic courses because it can massively develop social networks as it can effectively achieve learning by learning from each other.
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Group work is a transferable skill that you may need through your career. It allows you to work with others, share your ideas, and solve some problems. In my opinion, I found that really helpful because through this, I did new friends. It has several stages. First, meet with your friends. Later, just plan the work and divide it. After that, you can meet again and you can share your work. As a result, you can do an integrated unique piece of work. There are a few challenges with setting up a group work. One of them, the group work wouldn’t work collaboratively. The ideas are not thoroughly discussed as a team. This will result in ineffective communication and you won’t get the best results.
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Sometimes, there are some students that want to dominate the discussions. They don’t allow others to talk. In other cases, you can find some students that are lazy. I think, and I found, that they don’t contribute to the work at all. Some strategies I think would work with group work– one of them, communication and sharing your idea with your team. As well, do believe that your team’s success is your success. Listen to your partners. Maybe your partners has an opinion or a point of view that could contribute to the work. In other cases, you have to follow your leader. Follow your leader and respect the authority could be important in the work.
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Finally, you can ask to your tutor, if you have any questions or if you have any problems, just let her or him know.

In this video, Lina and Hayder talk about some benefits of learning how to work effectively in groups. Lina describes this as a ‘transferable skill’, a skill which can be applied in many situations outside academic study, particularly in the work place.

They then go on to talk about the different stages in the process of organising group work, some of the potential problems that may occur, and strategies for avoiding or overcoming these problems.

Share your responses to the questions below in the comment area.

  • Have you experienced any of the problems that Lina and Hayder talked about?

  • Did you manage to solve them? If so, how?

If you’d like to learn more about group work in a university context, you can look at the Learn Higher webpages on group work. You’ll find an excellent case study, with video clips of group work in action.

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