The objective of the CTaLE GWCoP is to promote group work as a teaching and learning approach through the development of a community of learned professionals who are knowledgeable on the theory of groupwork and how this translates to practice, and the leverage of such knowledge to produce and disseminate research and guidance on effective group work approaches.
We will be in touch with details about next academic year around Summer!
Activity 1: Reading group: We will run through the following paper:
Bravo, R., Catalán, S., & Pina, J. M. (2019). Analysing teamwork in higher education: An empirical study on the antecedents and consequences of team cohesiveness. Studies in Higher Education, 44(7), 1153-1165.
You can download the paper here: Link
Guide questions for the reading group here
Activity 2: Practice-based talk: Martha Omolo, University of Exeter
Slides are here: Link
Using Real-World Resource Portfolios in Group Work Assessment: Encouraging Engagement and Responsible AI Use in Economics Education
Abstract: This talk presents my experience designing and implementing a three-stage portfolio-based group work assignment in a second-year Money and Banking module delivered in Term 1 of the 2025–2026 academic year at the University of Exeter for students enrolled in the BSc Economics and Finance programme. The assessment design is inspired by the framework proposed by Nassehi and Saade (2025), which advocates the use of curated portfolios of real-world resources in international economics coursework to encourage students to engage directly with materials used by practitioners and to reduce the unethical use of generative AI in assignments. I designed a group assignment consisting of two collective components and one individual component. The group component includes (i) a debate topic plan and presentation and (ii) a final group debate report. Students draw on a portfolio of real-world materials relevant to contemporary developments in financial markets, fintech, and monetary policy, including speeches by central bank governors or finance ministers, think tank podcasts, videos, or reputable news articles. Since these materials emerge in real time and reflect ongoing policy and financial markets debates, they encourage students’ engagement with sources that cannot easily be generated by AI systems. The talk explains the rationale and my experience, including the challenges faced and lessons learned, in combining real-world resource portfolios with staged group work and individual reflection to foster students’ engagement with policy and financial markets debates, build job-relevant research skills, and encourage responsible AI use in economics coursework.
Activity 1: Reading group: We will run through the following paper:
Johnston, C. G., James, R. H., Lye, J. N., & McDonald, I. M. (2000). An evaluation of collaborative problem solving for learning economics. The Journal of Economic Education, 31(1), 13-29.
You can download the paper here: Link.
Guide questions for the reading group here
Activity 2: Presentation: Yaprak Tavman, University of York
Reflections on Co-developing a Problem-based Learning Module in Economics through Student-Staff Partnership
Abstract: Problem-based learning (PBL) is a student-led pedagogy that engages learners with authentic, real-world problems through group work and self-directed inquiry. In 2024 - 25, we introduced a new PBL module in the Department of Economics at the University of York, developed through partnership with students rather than the adoption of a predefined model. This talk presents a reflective account of my practice during the design and delivery of the module. I outline the process of working with students through focus groups and PBL taster sessions, drawing on literature on PBL and student partnership. I reflect on key challenges encountered, including students’ anxieties about transitioning from more passive learning approaches and tensions around facilitation and assessment, and how these were navigated in practice. The talk concludes by reflecting on what I learned from working in partnership with students with an aim to offer practical insights for educators considering student-led pedagogies in disciplines where such approaches may challenge established norms.
Title: Beyond the Chatbox: Making (Class)room for AI
Description:
This interactive session will explore how Team-Based Learning (TBL) and Understanding by Design (UbD) frameworks align through backward design principles, and how generative AI can be integrated into these workflows to enhance planning and creativity without compromising pedagogical integrity.
We’ll go beyond the chatbox to examine how prompt design shapes AI behaviour and aligns with learning objectives. Participants will analyse real examples of AI responses, compare generic vs customized outputs, and guess the prompts that created them, then reflect on strategies for integrating AI thoughtfully into their own teaching.
In this session we will only have 1 activity- the reading group.
Reading group: We will run through the following paper:
Freeman, M. (1995). Peer assessment by groups of group work. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 20(3), 289-300.
You can download the paper with this link
Guide questions for the reading group here
Here are the slides used and the recording will be distributed over email.
Our October meeting (for the second year) will kick off our engagement with the literature on group work and group learning, and also feature our new educational practice sessions, which hopefully will become a regular feature of our work.
Activity 1: Reading group: We will run through the following paper:
Ion, G., Díaz-Vicario, A., & Mercader, C. (2024). Making steps towards improved fairness in group work assessment: The role of students’ self-and peer-assessment. Active Learning in Higher Education, 25(3), 425-437.
You can download the paper here: Link.
Guide questions for the reading group here
Activity 2: Educational practice: Satadru Mukherjee, University of Bristol
Co-creating group summative assessment with undergraduate student collaborators
Abstract: In this project, we co-created the summative coursework of a year 1 Statistics unit with six 2nd year UG students at University of Bristol. Students creatively implemented their ideas, drew from their experience in building the coursework which focused on economic issues that they think are important to study like the socio-economic impacts of the 2008 global financial crisis, the aftereffects of Covid-19 on UK’s labour market thereby making the assessment more authentic and the subject more relatable to their peers. I will discuss the process of co-creation, provide an overview of the literature and share the experience of students working in this project.
Assessment co-creation offers student’s the agency to actively contribute to designing the evaluation of learning and promotes authentic assessment where students can examine real world economic problems by constructing questions that stem from their study interests. By collaborating, educators get an in-depth view how students engage with the subject, what they value in their learning; the knowledge educators can use to develop curriculum that makes learning more stimulating and impactful for students. Co-creation requiring intensive intellectual contribution from students instils higher order study skills, and the collaboration process contributes to further development of graduate attributes. Students described how they developed dynamic thinking, teamwork skills by working in this project. Additionally, co-creation fosters assessment literacy, and its inclusive approach strengthens student’s sense of belonging and students shared that using this approach to create assessments bridges the gap between academics and students.
Our October meeting will kick off our engagement with the broad interdisciplinary literature on group work and group learning, and also feature our inaugural community design activity, which will become a regular feature of our work.
Activity 1: Reading group: We will run through the following book chapter:
Slavin, R. E., Hurley, E. A., & Chamberlain, A. (2003). Cooperative learning and achievement: Theory and research. Handbook of psychology: Educational psychology, 7, 177-198.
You can download the book chapter using this link
Guide questions for the reading group here
Activity 2: Community design: Arpita Ghosh, University of Exeter
Improving groupwork in a course of Economics of Crime
Post meeting materials
Slides from the session can be accessed here
Recording: Link (passcode will be provided with email)
Activity 1: Reading group: We will run through the following paper:
Weinstein, J., Morton, L., Taras, H., & Reznik, V. (2013). Teaching teamwork to law students. J. Legal Educ., 63, 36.
You can download the paper using this link
Guide questions for the reading group : please see here
Activity 2: Community design: Stacey Gelsheimer, Boston University
Designing groupwork in a course of Empirical Economics
Post meeting materials
Slides from the session can be accessed here
Recording: Link (passcode will be provided with email)
Activity 1: Reading group
This week we will be looking at a very applied article which seeks to provide practical advice in setting up and running student group work (in addition to highlighting common pitfalls). There are two main focusses of interest in this paper: As ever, the first is to reflect on our own practice and the extend to which our own work embodies the ideas and advice in this article. The second focus is to ask why these approaches are hypothesised to work--do they map perfectly against theories we have covered already (i.e. social cohesion theory, cognitive theories), or is this advice targeting something different?
Article: Hansen, R. S. (2006). Benefits and Problems with Student Teams: Suggestions for Improving Team Projects. Journal of Education for Business, 82(1), 11-19. (which can be downloaded from here)
There are some guide questions here that may help focus your thoughts while reading the article--these will also form the basis of discussions in our meeting.
Activity 2: Presentation: Rabeya Khatoon, University of Bristol
Title: "Group Dissertation with Industry Projects: A Case Study"
Abstract: This ongoing research explores a novel approach to Economics postgraduate dissertations by integrating teamwork and industry projects. It applies the equity share model to address free-rider issues within team environments, aiming to nurture collaboration. The interdisciplinary MSc program is designed to promote team-building, a sense of belonging, and an appreciation for diversity among students. Data for the study is drawn from students’ personal reflections, captured through emotional line graphs related to teamwork, assessment, and feedback. These insights are then analyzed alongside student performance, assessment schedules, and team composition to evaluate the experiences of the program’s first cohort. The case study also includes reflection summaries from the team responsible for supervising and delivering the dissertations.
Post meeting materials
Slides from the session can be accessed TBU
Recording: Link (passcode will be provided with email)
Activity 1: Reading group
Article: Meijer, H., Hoekstra, R., Brouwer, J., & Strijbos, J. W. (2020). Unfolding collaborative learning assessment literacy: A reflection on current assessment methods in higher education. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(8), 1222-1240.
The article can be accessed using this link.
There are some guide questions here that may help focus your thoughts while reading the article--these will also form the basis of discussions in our meeting.
Activity 2: Presentation: Robert Riegler, Aston University
Title: Using peer-evaluation for assessed groupwork
In this talk, Dr Robert Riegler will present insights founded on a body of work looking at peer-evaluation as a means of assessing student group work. The talk will encompass three published or ongoing studies (variously co-authored by John Guest and Karishma Patel, also both of Aston).
Post meeting materials
Slides from the session can be accessed TBU
Recording: Link (passcode will be provided with email)
Activity 1: Reading group:
Article: Ruder, P., Maier, M. H., & Simkins, S. P. (2021). Getting started with team-based learning (TBL): An introduction. The Journal of Economic Education, 52(3), 220-230.
The article can be accessed using this link.
There are some guide questions here that may help focus your thoughts while reading the article--these will also form the basis of discussions in our meeting.
Activity 2: Presentation: Jana Sadeh, University of Southampton
Title: A Cooperative Virtual Exchange within the Economics Curriculum: A pilot study on developing global competency
The increasing interconnectivity of the global economy has fuelled higher education (HE) efforts to promote international exchange projects; however, these are not an option for many students. Virtual Exchange (VE) projects have emerged as an innovative and promising approach to enhance students' global competency at a low cost to educators and students. When combined with cooperative learning methods they also present an opportunity for economics students to develop deeper learning of the subjects they are studying while increasing their global competency. This paper presents a novel pilot VE cooperative learning program between students at a university in the US and a university in the UK. Students jointly undertake a cooperative learning exercise to produce output for a summative assessment. We measure their global competency pre and post the VE and find preliminary indications that this experience positively impacted students, particularly in the dimension of interaction engagement and confidence and particularly for female students and students who are multilingual. The paper contributes to the literature by presenting the novel combination of cooperative learning within a VE, outlining a timeline of practical steps for implementation to support other educators who may want to replicate this project and providing preliminary evidence of the potential impact of such projects on students’ global competency.