1. Davetta A. Henderson, Ed.D.
September, 2015

2. 
Welcome
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward
a common vision. The ability to direct individual
accomplishment toward organizational
objectives. It is the fuel that allows common
people to attain uncommon results.”
Andrew Carnegie, American Industrialist and Philanthropist
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3. 
Agenda
• Define and Discuss Perceptions
• Group vs. Team
• Faculty Perceptions
• Student Perceptions
• Student Challenges
• Recommendations
• Areas to Create
• Tools
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4. 
The Reality of Perception
• What are perceptions?
• Influences on perception (perceptual set)
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5. 
Some Perspectives on Perception
• Signal Detection Theory
• Top-Down Processing
• Bottom-Up Processing
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6. 
Group Work vs. Team Work
What’s the difference?
Group – little collaboration
Team – collaboration, working toward a goal
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7. 
Faculty Perceptions of Group Work
• Group work is important for career success
• Group work is an important skill in the workplace
• Allows students to play an active role in the learning
process
• Faculty professional development is needed in this area
• Group work requires more of a time commitment
• The group community is established with interactions
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8. 
(cont’d.) Faculty Perceptions
• Students know how to delegate tasks
• Group work is more challenging in an online environment
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9. 
Student Perceptions of Group Work
• Classmate and faculty interactions have an impact on
satisfaction
• Sufficient learner support that is connected to the campus
is needed
• They have to ‘give in’ to others ideas
• There is lack of individual accountability – social loafing
• Group work is used to reduce faculty grading
• Group work would be better if they could select their own
group members
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10. 
(cont’d.) Student Perceptions
• Appreciation of the help from peers
• This is an opportunity to socialize with peers
• They understand the application of group work to
employment
• Others will cause me to fail
• Group work is a positive experience if everyone
participates
• Working within a group will slow me down
• Influenced by personal factors
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11. 
Student Challenges With Group Work
• Communication between group members and the
instructor (includes language barriers)
• Time management
• Differing levels of expertise, opinions, and learning styles
• Challenges with bringing the group together
• Differing perceptions of level of engagement
• Differing levels of commitment
• Differing levels of motivation
• Adherence to deadlines
• Resolving group conflicts
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12. 
(Cont’d.) Student Challenges
• The concern of social loafing in others
• The lack of participation or withdrawal of group members
• Social skills
• How to initiate and maintain the group interaction
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13. 
Changing Perceptions
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14. 
Faculty Recommendations
• Make group participation visible
• Use an online sharing area or a wiki
• Decide whether or not to assign group roles
• Post a guide that list successful group processes
• Provide audio feedback to the group
• Emphasize why the group work is valuable and necessary
• Provide an outlet or suggestions of help with group
conflicts to increase group collaboration
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15. 
(Cont’d.) Recommendations
• Create small groups (but not too small)
• Elicit feedback on the group experience (reflection) – not
shared with other students
• Assign a group leader/recommend students assign a
group leader
• Provide timely suggestions – timeline for project
• Provide feedback on group progress
• Focus on the benefits of collaborating with others and the
brainstorming process
• Keep a constant presence in the classroom
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16. 
(cont’d.) Recommendations
• Provide students with group/team resources
• Monitor the group’s progress
• Introduce the student group members very early in the
term
• Explain upfront how the group project will be graded
• Provide consistent and broad communication
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17. 
Areas to Create Positive Perceptions
• Discussion Forum
• Course Lounge
• Messaging
• Announcements
• Resources
• Outside reference material (articles, links, a video, etc.)
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18. 
Group Tools
• appear.in
• Skype
• Discussion boards
• Wikis
• Wiggio
• HipChat
• GroupMe
• Bindle
• Google Groups/Google Docs
• Groupbox
• ooVoo
• Other
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19.  19

20. 
Resources
• Burke, A. (2011). Group Work: How to Use Groups Effectively. The Journal of
Effective Teaching, Vol. 11(2), 87-95.
• Fedynich, L., Bradley, K. S. & Bradley, J. (2015). Graduate students’ perceptions of
online learning. Research in Higher Education Journal, v27, 13 pp.
• Jackson, D., Hickman, L. D., Power, T., Disler, R., Potgieter, I., Deek, H. &
Davidson, P. M. (2014). Contemporary Nurse: A Journal for the Australian Nursing
Profession. v48(1), p117-128. 12pp.
• Jones, K. A., & Jones, J. L. (2008). Making cooperative learning work in the college
classroom: An application of the “five pillars” of cooperative learning to post-
secondary instruction. The Journal of Effective Teaching, 8(2), 61-76.
• Marks, M. B. & O’Connor, A. H. (2013). Understanding Students’ Attitudes About
Group Work: What Does This Suggest for Instructors of Business? Journal of
Education for Business, 88: 147–158.
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21. 
(cont’d.) Resources
• Morgan, Kari, Williams, Karen C., Cameron, Bruce A., Wade, Christine E. (2014).
Faculty perceptions of online group work. The Quarterly Review of Distance
Education, v15(4), pp. 37–41.
• O’Neill, S., Scott, M., & Conboy, K. (2011). A Delphi study on collaborative learning
in distance education: The faculty perspective. British Journal of Educational
Technology, 42, 939–949.
• Portolese, D. L. & Trumpy, R. (2014). Online Instructor's Use of Audio Feedback to
Increase Social Presence and Student Satisfaction. Journal of Educators Online,
v11(2).
• Smith, G., et al. (2011).Overcoming student resistance to group work: Online
versus face-to-face. Internet & Higher Education, 14, 121-128.
• Xu, J., Du, J., & Fan, X. (2015). Students’ Groupwork Management in Online
Collaborative Learning Environments. Educational Technology & Society, 18 (2),
195–205.
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