Lego Blocks - A Foundation for Effective Group Work

Abstract

In addition to being technically competent in their chosen discipline, employers expect graduates to have well-developed problem solving, communication and teamwork skills (Karzunia, West, De Costa, Philippou & Gordon, 2019). To address these needs business schools make extensive use of experiential learning projects to develop soft skills in students (Laufer, Jester & McKeen, 2018; Brutus & Donia, 2010). These projects often take place in group settings, either unintentionally due to class size constraints, or with the specific aim of developing students’ teamwork and collaborative abilities (Betts & Healy, 2015). However, the use of group work raises several challenges, both for the instructor and the students, around how to select group members, develop group cohesion, manage social loafing, and assess individual student contributions (Maiden & Perry, 2011). Instructors often seek to address these challenges through changes to the design of the group work activity itself, or through intervening to resolve group conflict. Less attention is paid to preparing students for the challenges that they might encounter with a group work. This session will present a learning activity designed to get students to reflect on pitfalls commonly associated with group work in experiential learning projects.