UNSW’s Education Festival 2021 | Page 56

Mark Lewis and Maryam Armat,

Design & Arts, UNSW Foundation Studies

The Redesign of a Face-to-Face Collaborative Group Activity for the Online Environment while Overcoming Inherent Challenges of Student Engagement

Challenges and Strategies Information
Activity Background and Explanation
Some of the main“ challenges” to online engagement such as poor communication, a tendency to“ free ride” during group collaborations, and internet connectivity have been identified during the activity which are depicted by different“ bricks” in the wall. To ensure that the online activity remains collaborative and fosters joint knowledge building as well as individual learning gains, approaches such as modelling online behaviour, online shared documents, optimal group size, heterogenous group composition and a reward system to encourage students’ interactions were incorporated in the redesign.
Modelling online behaviour
Heterogeneous group composition
Online shared documents
Optimal group size
Challenges
Lack Challenge of communication
Challenges
Reward system
Successful Engagement
Successful Engagement
The Intercultural Simulation Activity is a key assessment within Culture and Communication course which involves the application of Hofstede’ s Cultural Dimensions and allows learners to work in“ synthetic culture” groups to overcome challenges and complete tasks while honing their ability to work effectively in monocultural and multicultural teams. This poster illustrates various student interactions and showcases the challenges that had to be overcome during the redesign of the Intercultural Simulation Activity for the online environment while maintaining student engagement.
Academic References
Gilson, L. L., Maynard, M. T., & Bergiel, E. B.( 2013). Virtual team effectiveness: An experiential activity. Small Group Research, 44( 4), 412- 427 Hofstede, G. J.( 2002). Exploring culture: Exercises, stories and synthetic cultures. Boston, MA: Intercultural Press. Kaendler, C., Wiedmann, M., Rummel, N., & Spada, H.( 2015). Teacher competencies for the implementation of collaborative learning in the classroom: A framework and research review. Education Psychological Review, 27, 505-536. DOI 10.1007 / s10648-014-9288-9
Poor collaboration
Poor Internet
Social loafing
Successful Engagement
Student Comments
“ Placing us in random groups replicates the real-world challenges where I learn how to communicate with new people and confidently express my opinions”
“ We should not be silent in a discussion, and we should actively express our views, so as to arouse the enthusiasm of other team members and make the discussion livelier”
“ I enjoyed the cross-cultural team challenge because it was a very new experience for me to be involved in communication in a different role than my every day one.”
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