Working in a group with other students is part and parcel of university study. Quite a few people worry about it, and some have real problems with it. This activity looks at the main issues people have with group work and gives you some practical tips for your own study.
Group work came up a lot in the Autism&Uni surveys. Some people found it really useful in terms of helping them develop skills they needed for work and social life later on. Other people really struggled with it, especially if they felt that they were doing more work than other people.
This is a common issue for non-autistic people, too. There is no perfect way to put together groups or make them work well, so tutors also find it challenging, but getting to grips with group work is a worthwhile thing to do and it’s an important part of many courses for this reason.
What’s good and bad about group work?
What experience do you have with group work? Try to remember the good times as well as the more difficult ones. It’s understandable to worry about it if you have had problems in the past, but anticipation is often worse than reality. What do you think are the good and bad points about group work?
Who will I work with?
There are pros and cons to the different methods tutors can choose for the formation of groups. In the workplace, you rarely get to choose who you work with, but hopefully the work you do will be related to your strengths and skills.
If people are allocated randomly (or by characteristics such as their surname) to groups, that can seem fairest, but then you can end up with very uneven groups that don’t have a good mix of skills and interests.
If the tutor creates mixed ability groups, distributing the most competent students across the groups, the person who is most able can end up doing most of the work and bringing up the grades of the others, or at least may feel that way.
If students get to choose their own groups, this can feel empowering and you can work with people you already know and like, but less popular students may struggle to find a group and friends working together isn’t always the strongest group.
Ideally, you would choose to work with people based on their strengths and have a variety of different skills and preferences in the group, but this means you have to know what those strengths are and everyone needs to communicate well what they like to do, what they are good at and what their expectations are of the group and the task.
Strengths and weaknesses
Everyone has preferred roles in a group. Some people are natural leaders and good at making things happen. Some people are very creative and tend to excel at throwing in ideas to shake things up. Some are brilliant at making sure all the notes get made and meetings get booked. Others are amazing at bringing the group together and making everyone feel like they are part of a team. Some people make fabulous slides, others are good at chasing up unfinished work or public speaking. Most people have a mixture of talents and preferences, and areas that need more development.
How could this affect me?
Some autistic students enjoy group work more than any other part of their course, as it enables them to work with others with support and a common goal and this helps them with social and work relationships later on. Others worry a lot about it, but either way most courses have group work at some point and it is better to take a proactive approach so you can make the most out of the experience.
Knowing what you’re good at and being able to express it well, without being arrogant, is an important part of working with others. It’s also important to know what you are not so good at, so that you can work on improving those areas and perhaps avoid roles where those are the main characteristics.
It is best to be very specific – just saying you’re good or bad at something or love or hate it without having a very clear idea of what that is in relation to the group and task and how you can either work with or around that element isn’t helpful to anyone.
What to do next?
Spend some time thinking about your strengths and weaknesses and make an appointment to speak to your tutor or advisor
- Tell the group you are autistic and how it affects you – calmly, without getting upset or using it as an excuse for not doing work.
- Make a list with two columns: in the left column put the things you are most worried about relating to group work and in the right column, write down how you might be able to resolve these issues.
- Discuss this list with a trusted person at home or uni, like a parent, your disability advisor, a mentor or a tutor.
Questions to think about
These are things you can talk to your disability advisor and your personal tutor about. Some are good practice anyway, others you may have to make a case for:
- Telling the group you are autistic and how it affects you
- All group members to declare what they think they’re good and bad at and discuss these issues
- Set ground rules for group work and communications, such as how often you will meet up and/or email each other, internal deadlines etc
- Extra supervision for the group at the beginning of the assignment
- Establishing a student buddy within the group
- Arranging formally structured and/or online meetings that support group members getting to know each other
In addition, here are some questions to think about and plan strategies around:
- How do you decide who the leader is and who does what?
- How would you divide up work fairly?
- How do you stop people messing about and get on with the work without upsetting anyone?
- What about when someone doesn’t turn up?
- What if group members are lazy or not very good?
- How would you handle it if someone doesn’t speak English that well?
- How do you handle different approaches to the deadline?
- How can you pro-actively manage expectations and cope better by addressing things you worry about early?
- When should you talk to the tutor about problems and what do you need to do first?
Kufanya kazi katika kikundi na wanafunzi wengine ni sehemu muhimu ya masomo ya chuo kikuu. Watu wengi wana wasiwasi juu ya jambo hilo, na wengine wana matatizo ya kweli. Kazi hii inaangalia masuala makuu watu wana na kazi ya kikundi na inakupa baadhi ya vidokezo vitendo kwa ajili ya utafiti wako mwenyewe. Kazi ya kikundi ilikuja sana katika uchunguzi wa Autism&Uni. Watu wengine waliiona kuwa muhimu sana katika suala la kuwasaidia kuendeleza ujuzi waliohitaji kwa ajili ya kazi na maisha ya kijamii baadaye. Watu wengine walipata shida sana, hasa ikiwa waliona kwamba walikuwa wakifanya kazi zaidi kuliko wengine. Hii ni suala la kawaida kwa watu wasio na ugonjwa wa akili, pia. Hakuna njia kamili ya kuunganisha makundi au kuyafanya yafanye kazi vizuri, kwa hivyo walimu pia wanapata changamoto, lakini kupata kazi ya kikundi ni jambo la thamani na ni sehemu muhimu ya kozi nyingi kwa sababu hii. Ni nini kizuri na kibaya kuhusu kazi ya kikundi? Una uzoefu gani wa kufanya kazi katika kikundi? Jaribu kukumbuka nyakati nzuri na pia zile ngumu zaidi. Ni jambo la kueleweka kuwa na wasiwasi kuhusu jambo hilo ikiwa umekuwa na matatizo katika siku za nyuma, lakini mara nyingi kutazamia ni mbaya kuliko hali halisi. Unafikiri ni nini mambo mazuri na mabaya kuhusu kazi ya kikundi? Nitafanya kazi na nani? Kuna faida na hasara kwa mbinu tofauti walimu wanaweza kuchagua kwa ajili ya malezi ya makundi. Katika kazi, ni mara chache sana unaweza kuchagua nani unafanya kazi naye, lakini kwa matumaini kazi unayofanya itahusiana na nguvu na ujuzi wako. Ikiwa watu wanagawanywa kwa nasibu (au kwa sifa kama vile jina lao la familia) kwa vikundi, hiyo inaweza kuonekana kuwa ya haki zaidi, lakini basi unaweza kuishia na vikundi visivyo sawa ambavyo havina mchanganyiko mzuri wa ujuzi na maslahi. Ikiwa mwalimu anaunda vikundi vya uwezo mchanganyiko, kugawa wanafunzi wenye uwezo zaidi katika vikundi, mtu ambaye ana uwezo zaidi anaweza kumaliza kufanya kazi nyingi na kuleta alama za wengine, au angalau anaweza kuhisi hivyo. Ikiwa wanafunzi wanaweza kuchagua vikundi vyao wenyewe, hii inaweza kuhisi kuwezesha na unaweza kufanya kazi na watu unaowajua tayari na kama, lakini wanafunzi wa chini wa maarufu wanaweza kupambana kupata kikundi na marafiki wanaofanya kazi pamoja sio kikundi chenye nguvu kila wakati. Kwa mfano, unaweza kuchagua kufanya kazi na watu kulingana na nguvu zao na kuwa na ujuzi mbalimbali na upendeleo katika kundi, lakini hii inamaanisha kwamba unapaswa kujua nini nguvu hizo na kila mtu anahitaji kuwasiliana vizuri kile wanachopenda kufanya, nini wao ni mzuri katika na nini matarajio yao ni ya kundi na kazi. Nguvu na udhaifu Kila mtu ana majukumu ya kupendelea katika kikundi. Watu fulani ni viongozi wa asili na wana ustadi wa kufanya mambo yatukie. Watu fulani ni wabunifu sana na huwa na ustadi wa kutoa mawazo ili kubadili mambo. Baadhi yao ni wazuri sana katika kuhakikisha maelezo yote yanafanywa na mikutano imewekwa. Wengine ni wa ajabu katika kuleta kikundi pamoja na kufanya kila mtu ahisi kama wao ni sehemu ya timu. Watu wengine hufanya slides fabulous, wengine ni nzuri katika kukimbilia kazi unfinished au kuzungumza hadharani. Watu wengi wana mchanganyiko wa vipaji na mapendezi, na maeneo ambayo yanahitaji maendeleo zaidi. Hilo laweza kunihusuje? Wanafunzi wengine wenye autism wanafurahia kazi ya kikundi zaidi ya sehemu nyingine yoyote ya kozi yao, kwani inawawezesha kufanya kazi na wengine kwa msaada na lengo la kawaida na hii inasaidia na mahusiano ya kijamii na ya kazi baadaye. Wengine wana wasiwasi sana juu ya hilo, lakini kwa vyovyote vile kozi nyingi zina kazi ya kikundi wakati fulani na ni bora kuchukua mbinu ya proactive ili uweze kufanya zaidi nje ya uzoefu. Kujua kile unachojua vizuri na kuwa na uwezo wa kukionyesha vizuri, bila kuwa mwenye kiburi, ni sehemu muhimu ya kufanya kazi na wengine. Ni muhimu pia kujua nini wewe si hivyo nzuri katika, hivyo kwamba unaweza kufanya kazi juu ya kuboresha maeneo hayo na labda kuepuka majukumu ambapo wale ni sifa kuu. Ni bora kuwa maalum sana - kusema tu wewe ni mzuri au mbaya katika kitu au upendo au chuki bila kuwa na wazo wazi sana ya nini ni kuhusiana na kundi na kazi na jinsi unaweza ama kazi na au karibu na kipengele kwamba si muhimu kwa mtu yeyote. Ni nini kinachopaswa kufanywa baadaye? Tumia muda fulani kufikiria nguvu na udhaifu wako na kufanya miadi ya kuzungumza na mwalimu wako au mshauri - Waambie kikundi wewe ni autistic na jinsi inakuathiri <unk> kwa utulivu, bila kuwa na wasiwasi au kutumia kama udhuru kwa ajili ya kufanya kazi. - Fanya orodha ya safu mbili: katika safu ya kushoto weka mambo ambayo unahofia zaidi kuhusu kazi ya kikundi na katika safu ya kulia, andika jinsi unaweza kutatua masuala haya. - Zungumza orodha hii na mtu wa kuaminika nyumbani au chuo kikuu, kama mzazi, mshauri wako wa ulemavu, mshauri au mwalimu. Maswali ya kufikiria: Ni maswali ambayo unaweza kuzungumza na mshauri wako wa ulemavu na mwalimu wako wa kibinafsi. Baadhi ni mazoezi mazuri hata hivyo, wengine unaweza kuwa na kufanya kesi kwa ajili ya: - Kuwaambia kundi wewe ni autistic na jinsi ni kuathiri wewe - Wote wa kundi wa kutangaza nini wao kufikiri wao ni nzuri na mbaya katika na kujadili masuala haya - Kuweka sheria za msingi kwa ajili ya kazi ya kundi na mawasiliano, kama vile mara nyingi wewe kukutana na au barua pepe kila mmoja, muda wa ndani, nk - Usimamizi wa ziada kwa ajili ya kundi mwanzoni mwa kazi - Kuanzisha mwanafunzi buddy ndani ya kundi - Kupanga rasmi muundo na kupanga mikutano online kwamba kusaidia wanachama wa kundi kupata kujua kila mmoja. - Ungegawanyaje kazi kwa usawa? - Jinsi gani unaweza kuacha watu messing kuhusu na kupata juu na kazi bila kusumbua mtu yeyote? - Namna gani mtu fulani asipojitokeza? - Namna gani ikiwa washiriki wa kikundi ni wavivu au si wazuri sana? - Ungeshughulikiaje ikiwa mtu fulani hawezi kuzungumza Kiingereza vizuri hivyo? - Unafanyaje na mbinu tofauti za kufikia tarehe ya mwisho? - Jinsi gani unaweza proactively kusimamia matarajio na kukabiliana vizuri kwa kushughulikia mambo wewe wasiwasi juu ya mapema? Ni wakati gani unapaswa kuzungumza na mwalimu kuhusu matatizo na ni nini unahitaji kufanya kwanza?