The Benefits:
Working cooperatively allows people to learn from one another. For example, if you are struggling with something working in a group might help you to understand it more as everyone has different ways of explaining things. Cooperative learning can also help to make people feel more comfortable with others on their course or studying the same module – it is familiar faces that you are spending a fair amount of time with so can help build friendships. I think cooperative learning also helps to broaden knowledge. As there will be a wide range of people in the group, their experiences and background will help to further develop concepts discussed in a group task. For example – if someone has studied an undergraduate degree in Biology and is then doing their postgraduate in teaching – if the task is to do with an aspect of Biology then that person will be able to pass their knowledge onto the rest of the group. Cooperative learning also develops skills that are needed throughout life and helps increase employment opportunities.
The Challenges:
Some people may take too much of a leadership role in the group and boss people about. This won’t encourage people to work as a group. I also think that some members of the group might not do a lot of the work and not input very much information to the task. People may become distracted and not stay focused on the task at hand. This means that coming to the deadline for the work the group may be rushing around trying to finish as not everyone as put the same amount of effort in. Also, some people may not take it seriously and therefore weakening the work that is put into the task.
Many of the things you listed as benefits I also find to be benefits. I find it very beneficial when working in groups focusing on something I don’t understand as I find group discussions help me to link pieces of work together to fully develop my understanding of it. I also agree that when people start working together in study groups will be very beneficial. As I haven’t met very many people from the class I think having a study group would help us to get to know each other well and understand the work a whole lot better. I have experienced all the challenges which you have stated above and I have found them to be real struggles when working within a group. I also find that if there are many people who are not working together or making much of an input then when the work is submitted they still have their names on the work however it had nothing to do with them. Although this can also happen in the opposite way where one person takes control of the work and put only their names on it therefore isolating the others. I found your post and your views to be very similar to my own work.