Peer-to-peer learning

Many University students will undertake group work as part of their programme, and all students are part of a wider learning community within their group, programme, department or college. Digital platforms can provide us with a range of tools to help facilitate group work and to create online spaces and communities which make it easier for students to work together and support each other.

Tips for peer-to-peer learning

Create online spaces for students to interact

Consider setting up an online space where students on your module or programme can meet, chat, and support each other. To support group work, you could create Private Channels in Teams for individual groups, or you could setup Group Discussion Forums in Moodle . Don’t forget that students can also set up their own Teams spaces.

Online peer learning activities

As well as collaborating on group work, a whole module cohort could work together on a collaborative research activity by creating a shared learning resource in Moodle either in the form of a Wiki or a Moodle Board (like Padlet - but in Moodle). Students could also work individually or in groups to create learning resources for each other using Xerte online toolkits. Even just collaborating on a shared document can be beneficial.

Give opportunities to fail

Group work is difficult! Students don’t always start university having done a lot of group work, so it's a good idea to start with simple, formative, and unassessed group activities and provide support throughout. Give clear instructions and expectations as some students may experience social challenges or anxiety.

You should avoid one-off assessed pieces of group work and try to integrate it across your module or even throughout the whole programme. If doing online synchronous sessions, consider splitting people into  Breakout rooms to work on a topic and then bring people back to the main session later on.

Use tools to assign groups

There are various ways of selecting groups. You could set pre-formed or random groups in Moodle or let them form their own groupings. Remember to make the groups big enough so that students who aren't contributing don't cause overload on everyone else. When using Breakout rooms in Teams, you can randomly assign people to breakout rooms or assign individuals to specific Breakout rooms. See Course Administration in Moodle online course to learn more about groups and grouping.

Assess the right things

Summative assessment can be a source of anxiety in group work, so be clear on what you intend to assess and how it will recognise different contributions from group members. Are you assessing the outcome of group work or the process of working as a group, or both? You might want to assess the whole group or individuals.

Consider getting students involved in creating the marking criteria so they feel more engaged in the process. You might want to use Peer evaluation in Moodle. Students can also collaborate on documents in Teams or on Moodle.

Consider alternative assessment's for students with disabilities e.g. extra written work instead of an oral presentation, pre-recorded rather than in-person presentations. Consult the student's ILSP requirements or speak to the Disability and Inclusive Practice Service for guidance.

Manage contributions to group work

Consider using Microsoft Teams or a Microsoft Form to have regular check-ins with the groups to ensure there aren't any issues. You could use the Peer Evaluation activity in Moodle to moderate grades based on student feedback.

Be inclusive and accessible

Online group work and student interaction can encourage contributions from disabled or part time students and allows time for students, whose first language isn't English, to formulate their ideas. However, it can also be particularly difficult for some students - particularly those with social communication challenges or anxiety. Make sure to consult a student's ILSP for further detail. See the Accessibility expectations for further information.