ISSUES FROM THE CASE STUDIES

Review issues from the
research literature

It actually helps to socialise the class (CS1)

A lot of people don't have the same motivation or creative ideas, so that can be a big conflict. (CS1)

I found that it was increasingly being manipulated by students, giving students that weren't functioning well it was turning into a slanging match. Or it became a way for students to effectively recriminate against each other for perceived failures or problems in the group. (CS3)

That guy didn't do anything but he got the same mark. That's sort of unfair. (CS3)

Some people chose to just sort of drop out of the whole thing, whereas other took it by the throat and strangled it really! (CS4)

We had somebody who had a lot of responsibilities but also has a lot of time and was very energetic about posting emails and then would get horribly miffed if we didn't immediately respond and felt that that was a sign of rejection, and then would go into the awful martyred emails about: Well I guess it's all up to me! And... Oh no... It was just dreadful! (CS4)

I think there is a problem with on-line interaction in that - and it's well known, well documented - without a lot of the expression and gesture people are prone to misinterpreting what happens. And they also seem to be able to just dash off something which might be insulting. (CS4)

The groups that have had a lot of problem are still quibbling about the marks and who should get what and end up robbing themselves of marks that are virtually gift marks. (CS5)

We’ve used something called Belbin’s team roles. Belbin did research on 2,000 business teams and found that there were certain characteristics of the teams that made them successful. And in this context he came up with eight or nine different categories. (CS10)

They become very disgruntled about being thrown into groups with no reference to that as part of their learning. (CS10)