USING PHENOMENOGRAPHY TO UNDERSTAND PATTERNS OF INSTRUCTION IN GROUP WORK

Group work is regularly implemented as part of higher education learning. Much research has examined group work to determine both the impeding and facilitative factors, mostly from the perspective of the students' experiences of group work. To address the negative factors of group work, it would be helpful to understand the perceptions instructors have about group work. In Australia, prospective employers consistently call for business graduates to be able to demonstrate collaborative teamwork skills as part of their employability skill set. Group work in undergraduate courses is seen as the appropriate mechanism for teamwork education. Collaborative teamwork skills are considered the second most sought after demonstratable skill in a prospective employee; communication skills being the most sought after. How then can universities engender a growth in online group work as a means of ensuring their online undergraduates are being educated to develop their collaborative teamwork skills? This research examined the perceptions of instructors about their group work experiences. A phenomenographic research approach was considered the most appropriate, as phenomenography allows for all variations of perceptions to be considered, regardless of other factors such as experience or discipline specificity. Phenomenography facilitates the closer examination of a phenomenon, for example, how students learn. By examining the perceptions individual instructors have about their role in group work, patterns of instruction were illuminated. The findings of the research are expressed as phenomenographic categories of conception. The categories of conception detail the perceptions an instructor has in relation to their pattern of instruction. The categories can be expressed on a continuum of less complex to more complex. The categories do not describe individual instructors, instead all of the instructors' perceptions of group work. By understanding an instructor's perceptions about group work, it is expected that changes in practice can be engendered.