Skip to main content

‘Group work’

Upcoming Workshop: Group Work That Works

Aug. 20, 2021—Date: Tuesday, August 24th Time: 10:30am – 12:00pm Facilitator: Ransford Pinto, CFT assistant director   Group work is an effective teaching approach that enhances student learning and encourages critical thinking and decision-making skills. In this workshop, we will explore strategies and leverage some lessons learned from last year to foster better group work during our in-person classes. REGISTER (A...

Read more


“Relationships were absolutely everything”: Marcy Singer-Gabella shares approaches for connecting people, resources, and ideas across a course.

Feb. 4, 2021—Marcy Singer Gabella, Professor of the Practice in the Department of Teaching & Learning, recently joined Julie Johnson and Jesse Blocher for a Conversation on Teaching about the hybrid courses they taught in Fall 2020. You can see the recording of the entire session here. In the segment below, Marcy shares three key lessons from...

Read more


Upcoming Conversation on Teaching: Group Work and Student Collaboration Online

Jan. 19, 2021—Student collaboration looks very different in online and socially distanced settings than in our traditional, face-to-face classes. This panel discussion will bring together members of the Vanderbilt teaching community who are using group work or student collaborative projects in their online or hybrid teaching. Panelists will present their group projects, describe the challenges they have...

Read more


Teaching Innovations at Vanderbilt: Corbette Doyle and Group Work Promises

Feb. 22, 2019—By Faith Rovenolt, CFT undergraduate intern I recently had the privilege to talk with Professor Corbette Doyle, a Senior Lecturer in Organizational Leadership in the Department of Leadership, Policy, and Organizations. She has made recent changes in one aspect of her course that strikes fear into many students’ hearts: group work. Doyle, like many professors,...

Read more


New CFT Teaching Guide on Group Work

Oct. 22, 2015—We’ve all been there: victims of unproductive and frustrating group work. Perhaps an instructor poses a question, tells us to turn to our neighbor and discuss it, and we all sit silently…because the answer’s obvious and there’s nothing to discuss. Or perhaps we have an end-of-semester project to develop, and two of the four group...

Read more


What makes group work work?

Sep. 2, 2015—by Cynthia Brame, CFT Assistant Director We’ve all been there: victims of unproductive and frustrating group work. Perhaps an instructor poses a question, tells us to turn to our neighbor and discuss it, and we all sit silently…because the answer’s obvious and there’s nothing to discuss. Or perhaps we have an end-of-semester project to develop,...

Read more


Group work: Using cooperative learning groups effectively

Aug. 7, 2015—by Cynthia J. Brame and Rachel Biel Print Version Cite this guide: Brame, C.J. & Biel, R. (2015). Setting up and facilitating group work: Using cooperative learning groups effectively. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [todaysdate] from http://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/setting-up-and-facilitating-group-work-using-cooperative-learning-groups-effectively/. Many instructors from disciplines across the university use group work to enhance their students’ learning. Whether the...

Read more