Collaboration, group project hesitation and resistance

Abstract

Collaboration is a social constructed activity that students of all disciplines are asked to do, at some point. They are asked to create a body of work by formulating opinions, devising methods and they must delegate tasks. Myriad expectations and complexities affect outcomes, amongst which how we as facilitators choose to frame, illustrate and celebrate successful group work.

I use various methods and YouTube clips to broker this student centred activity to ensure that students are motivated and equipped with the tools needed. Collaboration creates unique challenges: working with others who sometimes have vastly different perspectives, understanding and opinions (Weick, 1995).

My distinctive approach to teaching is informed by work as a performance artist. This has led to me seek creative and innovative solutions to student engagement. In reflecting on my practice and examining ways to cultivate student expertise I use the term “unpacking” to address the complexities of a pedagogy of ambiguity.

“We value ambiguity, but we may fail to transition students from the safety of the concrete or the expected to the ambiguous and contingent, in a way that makes them feel safe or enabled.” Within this is the paramount and “often unspoken requirement that students experiment, take risks, learn to assess the appropriateness of solutions according to context, and engage in a longer and more open-ended process…”

The student experience in art and design higher education: drivers for change Group for learning in Art and Design, edited by Linda Drew, page 132)