With new collaboration tool, these teachers hope to avoid arguments before deadlines
In the ‘Educatips’ column, lecturers in Child and Education studies share their most important insights on teaching. This month: Tirza Smits, Kim Stroet and Marit Guda observed frustration among students working in groups, often due to poor communication. So they decided to build a tool to help.
‘Some students collaborate well and are able to play to their strengths,’ says Kim Stroet, lecturer in Child and Educational Sciences. ‘But others struggle in group settings, either because they’re not visible to others or find it hard to express where they’re stuck. They risk falling by the wayside.’At present, there’s no standard protocol for lecturers looking to improve group dynamics. So Stroet teamed up with fellow lecturers Tirza Smits and Marit Guda, her colleagues in the Blended Learning working group, to develop an online collaboration tool designed specifically for students.
Discussing strengths
‘This tool gives students a chance to talk openly about their skills and make them visible to the group,’ explains Marit Guda. ‘It’s a foundation for effective collaboration: how do you communicate? What challenges are you facing? What do you expect from one another? ‘Students often say they’ll talk about how they want to work together before a group project, but in reality, it doesn’t always happen. That can lead to missed deadlines, fuzzy roles, frustration, and disappointment.'
Taking centre stage
Stroet: 'I recall a student in a bachelor’s project who said she was good at organising the reading material early on, ensuring nothing important was missed. But she didn’t claim that task, and her louder peers quickly jumped in with their own ideas. If you have that conversation earlier as a group, you can better understand each other’s strengths, and what each of you hopes to gain from the project.’
Smoother teamwork? 3 tips
- ‘Make space to talk about the collaboration: what you expect from each other and what you personally want to contribute. Keeping the conversation going is key.’ – Marit Guda
- ‘Listen with an open mind and try to put your own assumptions and opinions aside. Really try to understand one another.’ ’ Kim Stroet
- ‘Pay attention to everyone’s strengths and working style. Take time upfront to reflect on how you prefer to collaborate, and say it out loud.’ – Tirza Smits
Faulty assumptions
One of the biggest stumbling blocks in group work is making the wrong assumptions about each other, says Guda. ‘You’ll often see quieter students who simply want more time to think before answering. But others conclude: “They’re just not engaging – they’re not as proactive as us.” Introverts can easily get drowned out in the group dynamic, and that’s a missed opportunity.’ She offers another example: ‘Some students like to get everything done well before the deadline. Others thrive under last-minute pressure – and still produce great work. If that’s not discussed, the early birds tend to take everything on, while the deadline-driven students feel like: “You didn’t give me a chance to show what I could do.”’
Putting it to work
Guda, Stroet and Smits built their tool within Feedback Fruits, and they’re now refining it with help from students and colleagues. ‘We hope the tool can be used across the entire programme in any course where teamwork is central,’ says Smits. ‘And we want lecturers to be able to adapt it to fit their own teaching style.’ Over the coming year, they’ll be running focus groups and interviews with students to further develop the tool. Stroet adds, ‘After that, we want to thoroughly test the tool’s questions with lecturers as well.’
Use this tool in your work group?
Curious how this tool might improve collaboration in your own seminars? Get in touch with Marit Guda, Tirza Smits or Kim Stroet.