Group work refers to students collaborating dependently and has been implemented in different educational systems all over the globe. It is a broad term that encompasses many forms and, at its core refers to students working interdependently together towards a shared goal. This quantitative study is done to explore learners’ perceptions of interactions in group work activities. To study how Malaysian students perceive activities, sentiments, and interactions while working on a group project, a purposive sample of 165 participants responded to the survey. The instrument used is a 5 Likert-scale survey and is rooted in Homan (1958) and Tuckman (1965). The survey has 4 sections. Section A has items on the demographic profile. Section B has 13 items on activities. Section C has 8 items on sentiments and section D has 8 items on interactions. The study indicates that learners are more likely to assign specific roles to team members and try to define the goal and what tasks need to be accomplished at the forming stage. The results demonstrate a strong positive relationship between activities and sentiments. There is also a strong positive connection between sentiments and interactions, as well as a moderate positive relationship between interactions and activities. Group work is a common practice in education. It is a complicated social activity with different levels of interaction. Analysing the perceptions of learners towards group interactions and understanding how group interactions impact performance can provide insights into how people collaborate, develop knowledge, and overcome challenges. Studying group interactions can also provide insights to improve team effectiveness, productivity, collaboration, and innovation.
Abbasi, N., Mills, A., & Tucker, R. (2017). Conflict Resolution in Student Teams: An Exploration in the Context of Design Education. In R. Tucker (Ed.), Collaboration and Student Engagement in Design Education,105-124. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-0726-
0.ch005
Rick, A. M. M., Mohd, W. N. H. W., Rahman, M. A., Sukiman, S. A., Mokhtar, R., & Katawazai, R. (2022). Exploring Online Group Work Using Tuckman’s Model. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 12(11), 187 – 205.
Ahmed Hassanien (2006) Student Experience of Group Work and Group Assessment in Higher Education, Journal of Teaching in Travel & Tourism, 6:1, 17-39. https://doi.org/10.1300/J172v06n01_02
Brown, A., & Robinson, C. (2020). Conflict and Communication Issues in Group Work: Implications for Learning Outcomes. Educational Psychology, 40(3), 295-312.
Burdett, J. (2003). Making Groups Work: University Students' Perceptions. International Education Journal. 4(3).
Chen, S., Lin, C., & Chen, C. (2021). Enhancing Student Motivation and Engagement through Group Work: A Meta-Analysis of Recent Research. Educational Psychology Review, 33(3), 663-680.
Driver, M. (2002). Exploring student perceptions of group interaction and class satisfaction in the web-enhanced classroom. Internet High. Educ., 5, 35-45.
Elspeth, B. (2007) Group work and assessment—benefit or burden?. The Law Teacher, 41:1, 19-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/03069400.2007.9959723
Gomez, A. B., & Fernandez, M. C. (2023). The Impact of Cooperative Group Work on Spanish Language Proficiency. Foreign Language Teaching and Learning Journal, 37(2), 145-162.
Gottschall, H., & García-Bayonas, M. (2008). Student Attitudes towards Group Work among Undergraduates in Business Administration, Education, and Mathematics. Educational Research Quarterly, 32, 3-29.
Hansen, R. S. (2006). Benefits and problems with student teams: suggestions for improving team projects. J. Educ. Bus. 82, 11–19. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.82.1.11-19
Hillyard, C., Gillespie, D., & Littig, P. (2010). University students’ attitudes about learning in small groups after frequent participation. Active Learning in Higher Education, 11(1), 9–
20. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469787409355867
Homans, G. C. (1958). Social behaviour as exchange. The American Journal of Sociology, 63, 597-606. https://doi.org/10.1086/222355
Jackson, S.L. (2015) Research Methods and Statistics-A Critical Thinking Approach (5th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (2019). Cooperative Learning Returns to College: What Evidence Is There That It Works? Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 51(6), 12-19.
Kagwesage, A.M. (2014). Peer interaction and learning: a study of higher education students initiated group work activity. Int. J. Knowl. Learn., 9, 179-193.
Li, W., & Zhang, Q. (2022). Enhancing Mandarin Chinese Vocabulary Acquisition Through Collaborative Group Tasks. Journal of Second Language Acquisition, 45(3), 287-303.
Postholm, M. (2008). Group work as a learning situation: A qualitative study in a university classroom. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice. 14. 143-155. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600801965978
Miller, K. L., & Jones, R. S. (2019). Challenges of Scheduling and Coordination in University Group Work: A Qualitative Analysis. Journal of Applied Student Affairs, 37(3), 63-78.
Rahmat, N.H (2020) Conflict Resolution Strategies in Class Discussions. International Journal of Education, Vol 12(3), pp 49-66. https://doi.org/10.5296/ije.v12i3.16914
Rezaei, A. (2017). Features of Successful Group Work in Online and Physical Courses. The Journal of Effective Teaching, 17(3), 5-22. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1175769
Smith, P., Johnson, M., & Williams, L. (2017). Unequal Participation in Group Work: Causes and Consequences. Journal of Higher Education, 88(5), 725-749.
Smith, J., & Anderson, L. (2018). The Impact of Group Work on the Development of Soft Skills in Higher Education. Journal of Education for Business, 93(3), 147-155.
Smith, A. L., & Johnson, R. K. (2022). The Impact of Collaborative Group Work on Second Language Acquisition. Modern Language Journal, 106(2), 289-306.
Sleeman, J., Lang, C., & Dakich, E. (2019). International students’ transition to university: Connection and disconnection in online group work interactions. Student Success, 10(2), 35-45. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v10i2.1300
Sydney H. Farivar & Noreen M. Webb (1994) Are Your Students Prepared for Group
Work?, Middle School Journal, 25:3, 51-
54. https://doi.org/10.1080/00940771.1994.11494550
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384–399. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0022100
Tuckman’s Teamwork Survey (2016). Knowledge Jump.
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/teamsuv.html
Davies, M. (2009). Groupwork as a form of assessment: common problems and recommended solutions. Higher Education. 58. 563-584. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9216-y
