“Only a Group that Breathes Good Dynamics can Produce Good Results”- A Case Study of a Postgraduate Student’s Group Experiences

Abstract

In colleges or universities, groupwork remains one of the experiences that all students have to go through, often to collaborate for a presentation, a project or an assignment. The teaching and learning that happens within groups usually depends on the group dynamics that is shared amongst all the members of the group. Taking a qualitative approach, this paper explores the group dynamics that Shahid (pseudonym), an Indian postgraduate student in Architecture experienced in two of his groups, one at undergraduate level in Delhi and the other at postgraduate level in UK. One salient finding of this study revealed that often in higher education contexts especially in one year masters degree in a foreign country, groups do not have enough time to go through the development phases properly as they have to start performing quickly and this leads to poor group dynamics which subsequently results in poor output.

Keywords: Group Work, Group dynamics, Group Development Phases, Groups in Higher Education