Importance of Group Work
Students generally love to work in a group. They find it exciting and look forward to studying in groups. They make good friends in this process and this encourages them to be confident and be able to speak up in class because they get the support of their group mates.
Students find it easier to present in a group compared to when they have to present individually. Group work should be inculcated in every classroom along with other methods of learning. It appears that group work takes more time to complete a course but a well-managed group work may not only take less time but it is a much more effective way of learning
For your better understanding, here are some of its advantages.
1. Allows social interaction between students
Group work will not work if all the students in one group are high achievers, and in the other group, the students are low achievers. It needs to be a mix of both in order to get better productivity. Group work needs a lot of planning before it is executed. The teacher assigns roles and duties to each member of the group, such as noise controller, timer checker, presenter, and so on.
Working together allows students to learn from each other. Group work is also known for enjoyable learning. It is a change in the regular manner of learning as well as a change in the manner of sitting. In group work, students are sitting facing each other so there is face-to-face interaction. Students learn to share resources and learn to be dependent on each other.
2. Teaches accountability for their actions
Working in groups teaches students a sense of responsibility. When a student fails to complete their assigned work, nobody is answerable for their ignorance. The teacher will not question the other students why he did not complete the work. But in group work, each student’s work matters to the whole group. Failure of one student is the failure of the whole group. Similarly, along with individual marks, the entire group gets a good grade for working collaboratively together and for achieving the targets.
3. Builds leadership skills
The advantage of group work is that one of the students in the group will quickly become a leader to guide and lead the team into doing the tasks perfectly. This inculcates leadership skills in the student and teaches them how to take accountability for the group. That student will be assigned duties to the other group members and will be making sure that every student is doing the task. Thus, they learn managerial expertise and skills, which become useful when the student enters their career.
4. Teaches how to manage time and work within the time limit
Group work will have a time limit so time management is also learned here by the students. Teachers allocate a specific time limit and the students have to complete the assigned task within that timeframe. The leaders will coach the low achievers so that each student’s presentation becomes flawless and the whole group successfully earns good grades.
5. Better productivity and performance in students
One of the benefits of working in a group is it helps students produce the best results. By working together, they are able to achieve more as compared to when they were doing the work individually. Now that more heads are joined together, the work gets done in a shorter amount of time.
6. An opportunity to get to know your class-fellows better
It is a common observation that students who do regular group work are bound to make friends easily. This type of activity allows them to interact and talk to their classmates. Usually, students do not bother to find out about the other students present in the class. But now that they are given the opportunity to sit together, the students come out of their shells and make an effort to know each other.
7. A golden opportunity for the introverts to speak up
Sometimes students are introverts. They feel shy in asking the teacher any questions in class. If they are having trouble in their studies, they prefer to hire a custom essay writing service to help them get the work done. It is difficult for them to make new friends. They need encouragement to speak up. For this reason, the teacher tries to form groups of mixed abilities. The instructor knows how to pair students so that they are of advantage to each other and profit from each other. Thus, they are able to enhance their learning as well as their social skills.
It is understood that in group work, the noise level will be higher than in a normal classroom. However, as long as the students stay on task and remain focused on their work, it will prove to be a productive arrangement.