ABSTRACT
It’s really important for students to work, learn and be assessed in small groups, since few nowadays live and work in isolation. To be able to take turns to propose task solutions, to resolve amicably intra-group conflicts and to work with all kinds of people in teams you’ve not selected yourself are all skills that make not just for better employability, but also for more fulfilling lives. Some but not all people naturally have these capabilities, and all benefit from regular and productive opportunities to hone them, hence the high value of including group tasks in university programmes. But there are no quick fixes: successful group work needs careful briefing, adequate preparation, rehearsal opportunities and the opportunity to interrogate both the task brief and the means of assessment.
