Teamwork Toolkit

TEACHING TIPS: How to develop students' teamwork skills

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provide a valuable opportunity to achieve high quality learning outcomes
foster collaboration, as well as competition
develop students' confidence and active participation in learning
prepare students for the workplace
develop a supportive working environment
bring together people with differing expertise and different perspectives
lead to creative and innovative solutions to complex problems
encourage students to challenge assumptions
give students a chance to perform a number of different roles
develop other skills such as project management, time management, problem solving, communication, conflict resolution and negotiation skills; and
can result in group outcomes of a very high standard.

not all students learn everything about the topic, especially if the task and workloads are divided into separate components
some students prefer to work and be assessed independently
there is a higher level of risk, as the uncertainty factor is higher than in the normal classroom situation
students can feel as if they have been “thrown in at the deep end"” if they don't have adequate support
some students don't pull their weight
individual grades may be affected if an overall group mark is awarded
some people tend to dominate others in the team and can hijack agendas
internal team dynamics can collapse; and
“groupthink” can take over