Wang, Yuxuan;
Lei, Yuhong;
(2024)
Graduate Teaching Assistants’ perspectives and reflections on the effectiveness of group work for first-year social science undergraduates.
Postgraduate Pedagogies
, 4
(1)
pp. 204-228.
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Abstract
In higher education, researchers are continuously exploring and discussing the effective ways to improve students’ learning quality and experience (Slavich & Zimbardo, 2012). Compared to teacher-focused lectures, seminars are designed to transfer the power from teachers to students, and seminar tutors act as facilitators. Small group discussion, as part of the student-centred learning (SCL) pedagogy, is one of the most commonplace activities in seminars (O’Neil & McMahon, 2005). Students engaging in group discussion do not only construct knowledge with their peers but also hone their collaboration and communication skills (Hoidn, 2017). The authors reflect on their experiences of teaching in first-year undergraduate seminars as graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) working in social sciences disciplines in two UK universities. One author’s seminar group consisted of mostly international students in a city university, and the other was dominated by local students in a campus university. Challenging the stereotype of reticent international students and vocal native speakers, both authors witnessed a generally weak intention of students to socialise and engage in group discussion. In addition, the authors observed that first-year students often find it difficult to draw on academic sources and produce relevant productive output. This paper aims to discuss and reflect on the effectiveness of group work and SCL pedagogy in first-year undergraduate seminars in the two UK universities, exploring the nuances in developing student autonomy while considering students’ specific emotional and academic needs.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Graduate Teaching Assistants’ perspectives and reflections on the effectiveness of group work for first-year social science undergraduates |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Publisher version: | https://postgradpedagogies.lse.ac.uk/articles/30 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Education, Practice and Society |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10191786 |
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