Editor's note: Group work can suck because teachers sometimes do
a poor job of giving credit where credit is due. Innovative
educator Diana Laufenberg has some thoughts on how to make group
work better. I will be working with a group of roughly 65
professors at West Chester University. I am thrilled to have the
opportunity to talk to the about PBL and the pedagogical
foundations that support such learning. The organizers of the
event did a survey and asked if the attendees had any requests
or questions. One consistent theme ran throughout the
submissions: How do we create functioning, collaborative groups?
So I did a little thinking about the pieces of the puzzle the I
consider when to facilitate effective collaboration and searched
for some reputable sources for more ideas. My thoughts on group
work and collaboration: Group work is tricky. For me there are
two goals with group work: individually assess student
capabilities and fostering more effective collaboration skills.
In order to accomplish this goal I