Group Work: A Catalyst for Adult Learning

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How does group work contribute to adult learning?
“Simply belonging to a group does not necessarily lead to the activation of these positive processes” (Magni, Paolino, Cappetta, & Proserpio, 2013). Through each of the learning theories, we have seen that there needs to be involvement of the learner in order for learning to actually take place. “In a group-based training setting, group members learn from each other how to overcome the obstacles that they themselves and others erect to hinder the achievements of their goals” (as cited in Magni, Paolino, Cappetta, & Proserpio, 2013). I found this to be interesting, as a high school teacher, many of my students want everyone to achieve, therefore they sometimes get caught sharing their answers …show more content…

Chang and Kang (2016) list that there are four challenges that can happen. First being commitment/responsibility. “The amount of stress and duplicated work created by irresponsible group members far outweighed any positive contributions that they may have made” (Bo & Haijun, 2016, p. 80). “Group-work caused more stress for some group members when they volunteered to do more than they should for the project” (Bo & Haijun, 2016, p. 80). Many people will take on more than they should sometimes due to the fear that it will be done incorrectly by another group member. Challenge two is communication/ coordination. “Communication in a timely manner is difficult in online group work since students don’t see each other physically” (Bo & Haijun, 2016, p. 80). Coodinating in an asynorous course is hard, because the learners can be all over the country, and sometimes even world. “Scheduling a time with group members to discuss assignments was difficult and the asynchronous nature of group work was especially hard and complicated when students from different time sones tried to coordicate times” (Bo & Haijun, 2016, p. 81). Challenge three structure/management. “Some participants complained that the process of negotiating how to do group work added extra work for them” (Bo & Haijun, 2016, p. 81). “Group size also affects the management and the dynamics of group work. The findings indicate that a small-sized group

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