Students who did coursework in groups of three handed it in closer to deadlines
Who it’s about: Students
- HelpedProcrastination
Students in groups of three uploaded tasks about on time, while students who worked alone were about a week late.
Trial, groups not picked at random of 268 social work students in Berlin math courses · vs the same course with tasks done alone · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ whole groups were assigned, not people; summary claims more than the results show; possible teacher effect
- No differenceGoals
Doing tasks in groups of three did not raise task scores or final test results compared with working alone.
Trial, groups not picked at random of 268 social work students in Berlin math courses · vs the same course with tasks done alone · behaviour was recorded · ⚠ whole groups were assigned, not people; summary claims more than the results show; possible teacher effect
The study
Who took part
268 social work students in 11 math courses at a university in Berlin, Germany. 129 were in 5 courses with group work and 139 were in 6 courses where everyone worked alone. Students were not split by chance.
What they did
All courses had the same online lessons on six topics. Each topic ended with a task to upload, and there were two in-person meetings a term. In the group courses, students did the tasks in groups of three. In the other courses, they did them alone.
What happened
Group workers uploaded tasks about on time on average, while students who worked alone were about a week late. Task scores and the final test were about the same in both. Each kind of course had its own teachers and students, so the course itself could explain the gap.
Source
Blended Learning, Flipped Classroom, and Peer Teaching as a Combination to Meet the Increasing Diversity in Higher Education (2024)
DOI: 10.18178/ijiet.2024.14.2.2053 (opens in a new tab)
