College of Sciences and Technology

CST Teaching and Learning Showcase 2005

Presentation Abstracts

Student perceptions of group work and its assessment
Fiona White, School of Psychology, Hilary Lloyd, Department of Pharmacology, Geoff Kennedy, School of Information Technologies, Chris Stewart, History and Philosophy of Science
Presentation

Group-based or co-operative learning often involves group assessment. Verbal feedback from students at The University of Sydney about group work assessment has indicated a general are concern about fairness (Academic Board Review, Phase 2, 2003). This feedback prompted the present study, which set out to (a) audit the type of group work and methods of assessment within the Faculty of Science and (b) investigate the attitudes of students to group work and group assessment in two disciplines, Pharmacology (n = 46) and Information Technology (IT; n = 80). Students were evaluated by questionnaires at the beginning and end of semester two. The two disciplines were chosen as their group work was assessed differently and it was of interest to determine whether the differing methods of assessment affected students' attitudes. The findings from the questionnaires, which were reported recently (HERDSA, 2005), indicated that group work was generally a positive experience for students. Nevertheless, 25% of students who responded to the open-ended questions provided negative comments - including the need for objective individual marks, avenues to decrease loafers, bias amongst friends in peer evaluation and concerns with confidentiality and anonymity with peer evaluation. Despite these negative comments, there was no particular preference for group assessment that used peer evaluation to obtain individual marks (Pharmacology) to one that was based on a shared group mark (IT), however, a small but significant change in favour of group work was found for Pharmacology students. From this study we conclude that attitudes towards group work: (1) are likely to be negatively affected by group assessment, (2) are not significantly affected by the method of group assessment, and (3) may be improved somewhat by using peer evaluation.

Management of Group Work
David Airey, Faculty of Engineering
Presentation

The presentation will discuss the method I have adopted for forming groups in a third year elective UOS in civil engineering with enrolments between 35 and 70. The UOS uses group work for the majority of the assessment, with the students undertaking three projects during the course of the semester. The assessment criteria and method of distributing marks between group members will be discussed. Some comments will be made on avoiding plagiarism, and the difficulties that have been experienced over the last 5 years, as well as some of the student comments.

Learning in groups. Students' conceptions and the impact on learning
Rosanne Taylor and Gerard Marcus, Faculty of veterinary Science, and Robert Ellis
Presentation

The Faculty of Veterinary Science has increased its use of learning in groups to enhance student engagement in learning and develop graduate attributes in team work and communication.

This project investigated the use of group work in a second year unit, designed to:

• engage learners actively
• stimulate deep, inquiry-based approaches to learning
• challenge understanding through meaningful interaction
• support a variety in learning styles
• create learning community and provide social support for learning
• develop professional communication skills
• manage large group interactions in a class of 120 students.

Students undertook a semester long series of group learning tasks which formed part of an assessment portfolio and were allocated to groups. Open and closed surveys were conducted on their conceptions and approaches to learning in groups and their preference for working in a group. Students participated in interviews and completed a reflective statement on their experience of learning in groups. The key findings were:

• A range of conceptions and approaches to learning in groups was identified. All students preferred team work (lower score) over individual work
• Students with more holistic conceptions of group learning had stronger preference for team work
• Females valued the experience of learning in groups more than males
• More females held moderate to highly developed (cohesive) conceptions of group based learning
• Students adopting deep approaches to learning had better learning outcomes
• Students with more advanced conceptions of learning in groups had marginally better outcomes
• However no direct relationship between deep approaches and preference for group work identified

Staff and students identified a tension between individual learning effort and commitment to group process/product. Learning in groups has many positive aspects as it can stimulate collaboration and application to problem solving. It provides students with different perspectives in a social setting that stimulates interaction and discussion which are effective forms of "time on task". However it presents many challenges to implement and support in medium sized student groups.

Problem based learning and team-work in Chemical Engineering
Vincent Gomes, Faculty of Engineering
Presentation

The Department of Chemical Engineering has established a program predicated on a problem based learning (PBL) approach that incorporates a diversity of major projects. This program is aligned with the graduate attributes delineated by the professional accreditation bodies nationally and internationally. PBL is incorporated as a key theme in our professional practice oriented courses that are conducted during all four years. Thus students are initiated into team work and cooperative learning from first year onwards. These activities are followed up through project work during the intermediate years of study which culminate in comprehensive (industry oriented) design studies during the final year. Team work is crucial in these courses and the relevant skills are part of the designed outcomes. Our curriculum has received positive reviews by the professional Accreditation Panels for its innovation and effectiveness.

Student experience of online group work in a postgraduate coursework program in Veterinary Science
Jenny-Ann Toribio, Ruth Laxton, Hannah Forsyth
Presentation

The ability to work effectively in teams is a key graduate attribute in an online postgraduate coursework program in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney. To equip students, each distance unit in the program includes a group assignment that requires students to work in virtual teams in the online classroom. As these students, professionals working in the animal health sector, study from a variety of locations across Australia and internationally, supporting the development of virtual teamwork skills became an important issue for program management staff.

This paper will explore questions regarding student preparation for virtual teamwork, compare student perception of virtual teamwork between two cohorts provided with alternate preparation regimes (limited for the 2003 cohort and extended for the 2004 cohort) and discuss useful strategies for promoting successful teamwork on group assignments in a virtual learning environment.

In brief, the paper will compare cohort responses to a questionnaire that addressed common issues in the virtual teamwork process - inception, role allocation, expectations, problem solving, decision making, execution, time management, conflict resolution and net-etiquette (Palloff and Pratt, 1999). The responses indicated that, compared to the 2003 cohort, the 2004 cohort had fewer problems with team inception and conflict resolution, and a similar experience with other aspects of virtual teamwork. Some preparation strategies found to aid virtual teamwork were instruction on how people function in teams, the online software platform and net-etiquette, and exploration of problems encountered by virtual teams and approaches to overcome these.

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