Staying Connected: A Toolkit for Effective Groupwork

by | Oct 22, 2021 | TILE Share Best Practice

By Dr Maxine Swingler, Lara Wehbe, Gayle Pringle-Barnes, Heather Cleland-Woods, Ellie Buglass, Valentine Conlan, Noor Sabha, & George Fournarakis

Drawing on the literature, existing resources and student feedback on group work, we worked with students to develop the Staying Connected Toolkit for effective group work in an online learning environment.  The toolkit comprises videos, interactive sway resources and student testimonials organised around group roles, communication, collaboration, reflection and seeking support.    We evaluated the resources and students and staff fed back that the resources on group organisation and reflecting on group work were particularly helpful.   In this video we will discuss the rationale for resource development, some highlights of the resource, along with student and teacher evaluations.  The Staying Connected Toolkit is available via the University of Glasgow Open Moodle.  To access the resource, go to https://glasgowonline.gla.ac.uk and create a new account, click on the link sent to your email address and then go to the Staying Connected Toolkit to self enrol.

Authors
  • Dr Maxine Swingler is a lecturer in the School of Psychology, University of Glasgow and has been teaching since 2003, currently leading the MSc (conversion) programme in psychology and teach qualitative research methods and professional skills.  Her pedagogical research interests focus on embedding graduate attributes within the curriculum, and she has completed research for the QAA Scotland on graduate skills, led workshops on embedding employability in the curriculum and developed good practice resources in employability and group work.  She also works with the British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Academics Researchers and Teachers (DART-P) and BPS Scottish Branch in organising conferences and CPD events for teachers and researchers in psychology.  Maxine is the project LEAD for the staying connected project and contributed to the design of the staying connected Moodle and resources on reflection in group work.  You can follow her on Twitter @maxine_swingler | Website
  • Ms Lara Wehbe completed an MSc psychological science in 2019 and is currently  a PGR student in the institute of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Glasgow, working with Dr Esther Papies and examining the cognitive and social processes involved in behaviour change in sustainable eating.  As research assistant in the staying connected project Lara worked closely with the student interns in analysis of student feedback and created the staying connected Moodle site and the addressing issues in group work resources. Twitter: @LaraWehbe4 | Website
  • Dr Gayle Pringle Barnes is the College International Student Learning Officer in the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow. Her focus is on academic literacies and English for academic purposes and she runs the co-curricular programme ‘Developing Your Academic Writing’ for taught postgraduate students. Her scholarship interests include student experiences of assignment and dissertation writing and transitions into postgraduate study.  Gayle contributed the videos featured on the staying connected Moodle site and the collaborative writing resource.   
  • Dr Heather Cleland Woods is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at the University of Glasgow where she is Level 4 programme and Flexible Learning lead. Her recent pedagogical work involves a team approach to Psychology teaching ranging from research methods to the final year dissertation and transitioning to remote delivery in response to COVID. She also runs the #sleepyteens project which seeks to understand how young people use social media and it’s impact on social connectedness and health.  As part of the staying connected project team Heather contributed the peer assessment in psychology resource and staff testimonial.  You can follow her on Twitter @clelandwoods | Website
  • Ellie Buglass has recently graduated with an MA (hons) in Psychology at the University of Glasgow.  She has experience working with young people and an interest in educational psychology.  As a student intern on the staying connected project Ellie ran focus groups and developed the getting started and template for group work resources.  Twitter: EllieBuglass1 
  • Valentine Conlan (they/them) is a Psychology graduate from the University of Glasgow. Their academic interests include attraction, mental health, and gender identity and expression. They are currently working on a project with a mental health charity exploring the intersection of mental health stigma and transgender identities.  As a student intern on the staying connected project Valentine contributed to the student testimonials, developed the planning a meeting resource and analysed student feedback.  You can find them on Twitter: @ValentineConlan
  • Noor Sabha recently graduated with an MA (hons) in Psychology at the University of Glasgow. She has experience in creating media and web content for diverse audiences.  As a student intern on the staying connected project she contributed to the student testimonials. Twitter: @noorsabha99
  • George Fournarakis recently graduated with MA (hons) in Business and Management and Politics at the University of Glasgow and has experience in design and marketing.  As a student intern on the staying connected project George contributed the online tools infographic and student testimonials. LinkedIn
References
Acknowledgments

Thank you to Dr Chiara Horlin who contributed examples to the group work resources and Dr Jessica Bownes who contributed the giving peer feedback videos.