The goal of this research study was to find what makes groupwork to be successful. We asked faculty why they give groupwork assignments to their students and what their opinions about the best practices in creating effective groupwork environment for their students are. It was also intended to compare instructors' opinions with research findings…

The present study used a unique design in which multiple factors were combined in a multiphase study to find if there are any significant interactions among six factors known to be effective in successful group work. The results indicated that the effectiveness of group work depends on how the effectiveness is measured, how the group is formed,…

First-Year Seminars (FYS) are among the high-impact practices described by AAC&U. We studied the long-standing First-Year Seminar Program at our public research university for the ways in which writing assignments--individualized for each seminar--help faculty and students achieve program objectives in critical and analytical thinking, the…