Practical Study Skills

MBA PREPARATION – PRATICAL STUDY SKILLS (PSS)

COURSE ASSESSMENT 2 –

GROUP DYNAMICS

Introduction

Over the previous 20 years, an explosion of development of innovative teaching methods and their integration with traditional approaches have been discovered (Colvin, 2007). “Collaborative Learning” or better known as group work, is one such technique, exercised in differing environments and widely used as a social practice in recent years (Qureshi and Stormyhr, 2012).  

Group work has grown to be inevitable in the classroom. Smith (2008) denotes that group work is a suitable method to improve productivity as it allows the use of different skill sets, knowledge and experiences that members have. Within the teaching space, group work is employed as an added medium by the teachers to diverge classroom practices. In this essay, the benefits of group work as a pedagogical tool is evaluated, and a problem resulting from group work will be discussed along with its effects, with potential methodologies to minimise and/or eliminate negative impact on group performance.

Question A

Usefulness of group work as pedagogy

What is a group? Donelson (2006) defined a group as two or more characters who are associated to one another by social links. This definition connects three elements together: the number of people involved, the association to one another, and the relationship between them. Groups are a basic section of human experience; they allow individuals to create more complex and large-scale activities, providing an environment where relationships are established, and where support to and from one another can be found (Smith, 2008).

A pedagogical tool is any material that an individual uses to learn or teach. Conventionally, they include classroom materials such as textbooks and worksheets, however with the advancement of technology, learners and trainers now employ tools like websites, and/or mobile applications, to enhance the speed and effectiveness of learning (wisegeek.com, 2015). Pedagogical tools are meant to deliver important lessons that allow people to enhance their understanding of a problem or a situation (systemdynamics.org, 2015).    

The essence of education is driven by the teaching and usage of pedagogy. The intention of pedagogy is to solidify the foundation of education (Compayre, 1886). The efficiency of learning and operating in groups has been perceived to be much higher than performing it individually (Glassop, 2002; Hurley and Allan, 2007).

Johnson and Johnson (1996) conducted an experiment in the mid-1990s, accessing more than 375 surveys on social liberation, and defined the results into five common groupings: 1) Enthusiasm to participate in complicated tasks and persist; 2) Lasting knowledge preservation; 3) Critical thinking and evaluation; 4) Inventive thinking and questioning; 5) Knowledge transfer; and 6) Job satisfaction.