The "study group concept" at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) was implemented to aid first year students' transitional challenges. A mentor (an older student) is affiliated each study group to facilitate productive group work, bring awareness to study habits, and share his/her own experiences with life as a student. The study…

This research, conducted with groups of undergraduate students before and after a European fieldwork exercise, critically examines the pedagogic value of fieldwork and its ability to provide students with transferable skills. This is achieved using Anderson and Erskine's lens of tropophilia--the aesthetic connection between people and place--to…

Small group work is common practice in higher education. However, empirical research on students' emotions related to group work is still relatively scarce. Particularly, little is known about students' appraisals of a group task as antecedents of emotions arising in the context of group work. This paper provides a first attempt to systematically…

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how poststructuralism and social constructionism can contribute to the empirical research on groups in problem-based learning (PBL). The paper outlines the analytical complexity and shows, through empirical examples, the potentials and limitations of this perspective as an alternative to traditional group…

The aim of the present study was to develop and provide psychometric evidence in support of the groupwork skills questionnaire (GSQ) for measuring task and interpersonal groupwork skills. A 46-item version of the GSQ was initially completed by 672 university students. The number of items was reduced to 15 following exploratory factor analyses, and…

A common global perception of group work in the higher education context is that it has the potential to act as a platform which can enable student learning by means of interactions, shared diverse experiences, deep engagement with subject concepts and the achievement of tasks collaboratively. Indeed, in different socio-economic, historical and…

The development of positive attitudes in team-based work is important in management education. This study investigates hospitality students' attitudes toward group projects by examining instructional factors and team problems. Specifically, we examine how the students' perceptions of project appropriateness, instructors' support, and evaluation…

Higher education institutions should not only aim to educate academic experts who master their own fields, but also give their students generic skills important in the current society. New teaching methods are required to support the development of such skills. The study examined how a group of voluntary university lecturers re-designed their…

Collaborative assessment has well-recognised benefits in higher education and, in online distance learning, this type of assessment may be integral to collaborative e-learning and may have a strong influence on the student's relationship with learning. While there are known benefits associated with collaborative assessment, the main drawback is…

The purpose of this research was to analyze how 24 graduate students perceived the study group experience and how study groups fostered a change in their knowledge and teaching of comprehension. Data sources included pre-post questionnaires, text concepts, International Reading Association process form, facilitator logs, and post-survey. Data were…

Use of peer assessment as a method of differentiating between individual students on a group project is examined. A peer appraisal questionnaire and a method for calculating a peer assessment factor from it are presented. The method's use in a large course and some possible modifications are discussed. The questionnaire is appended. (Author/MSE)

Formal use of cooperative learning techniques proved effective in improving student performance and retention in a freshman level statistics course. Lectures interspersed with group activities proved effective in increasing conceptual understanding and overall class performance. (11 references) (Author)

Discussion of group work projects in higher education focuses on a comparison of the performance of student groups formed randomly, with those formed using the Honey and Mumford learning styles questionnaire. Describes results that indicate no significant difference in student performances and considers the relationship to the Kolb model.…

Discusses the value of communications skills in geographical education. Describes the use of realistic interviews that were a part of small-group project work. Explains that students wrote job specifications, a curriculum vitae, a cover letter, and conducted interview panels. (CMK)

Explores whether problem-based learning experiences foster a more thoughtful learning environment than other educational experiences that prospective social studies teachers encounter. Reveals that the beginning teachers viewed problem-based learning as more thoughtful and investigates whether this finding can be associated with overcoming the…