Port Louis — Though the university has agreed to postpone the introduction of group work for the dissertation until next year, anger is still rife. Despite the benefits of group work, some lecturers find its use for the end-of-year project "ridiculous".

Alongside the assessment made by the supervisor, the University of Mauritius management also want to implement peer-assessment for the group dissertation.

The University of Mauritius (UoM) had to see to what was most urgent. When faced with a tough financial situation and a lower budget than expected from the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), the UoM took some unpopular decisions. Both students and lecturers have been complaining about a number of these - among them the group dissertation. As a result, the management of the UoM has agreed to put off the decision until the next academic year - but the problem will be exactly the same then. What are the implications of group work and does it justify such hue and cry? Some lecturers simply find the idea absolutely "absurd".

It is a known fact that the decisions made by the UoM management at the beginning of the university year were motivated by the financial problems it was encountering. And yet, the management keeps insisting that "It is a blessing in disguise. Such decisions would have had to be taken at one time or another." Professor Soodursun Jugessur, the chairperson of the UoM, made this clear at a press conference given last Friday to explain the recent decisions. "Group and team work will be increasingly important in the future. In Mauritius, we have always been too individual while working in groups appears more competitive."

Both Professor Jugessur and Indur Fagoonee, the vice-chancellor, pointed at the advantages of presenting group work for the dissertation. "Today, business is looking for people who have a facility for integration. Team work can serve that purpose", said Professor Jugessur.

Competitive system

There is no doubt that group work implies a lot of advantages for students (see inset). However, the pedagogue Surendra Bissoondoyal finds it unsuitable in the present local context of tertiary education. "It is good to encourage group work among students. Unfortunately, they have been in a highly competitive system since primary school and I wonder how we can reconcile these two trends?"

But more importantly, he wond1ers what the objectives behind such a system are. "There is a difference between a simple project and the dissertation that is of considerable importance for the obtaining of the degree. We are assessing students for an important certificate. How will the lecturer know with certainty who did what? The dissertation is far too personal to do with other people. Group work could be used for other projects but not for the dissertation."

As for Roukaya Kasenally, senior lecturer at the UoM, she finds the idea totally "ridiculous". "At the university, we are trying to break the spoon-fed approach students have been faced with at primary and secondary school. We try to make them learn and think in a more autonomous and creative way and the dissertation is one of the most important ways for students to show their independence and 'ownership' of their product. It simply goes against the spirit of independence." An associate professor of the UoM has the same fears. He is asking himself how he will assess a dissertation done by three students. "We are trying to solve a financial problem while neglecting the pedagogical aspect."

But the vice-chancellor asserts he has not "invented anything new. Group work exists in all foreign universities. We are using their experience to implement this system in Mauritius. There will be a follow-up by the tutor as well as a system of peer-assessment." There is no doubt that group work is a common feature in foreign universities - as well as schools - but can it become the most important part of a degree course? For Roukaya Kasenally, the answer is clear. "Such common end-of-year projects do not exist elsewhere. There are common projects where each student has his or her own definite input but it is never the most important element of the degree."

According to the Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, "research has demonstrated that an important factor in student success in university studies is the opportunity for students to work in groups. While many academics would like to include group work, there is often hesitation because of bad experiences when groups have fallen apart and have failed to complete the tasks or left the work to one or a few students who have felt badly put upon".

If group work definitely implies a lot of benefits and must be used more often at all levels of education (from primary to tertiary), is it really safe to use this method for such a personal piece of work as the dissertation? The more so, when it has such weightage in the overall grade of the degree.

Difficulty grading individual input

There are a number of difficulties in using groups at any level - the first one being that teams can fall apart. Working in groups can also be quite "unfair", as it can advantage some students while disadvantaging others. Moreover, the time spent to organise the group and plan action might be a problem, especially if students have never been used to doing so. But, even more importantly, the tutor might have difficulty grading individual input. "How will the supervisor gage the input of each student?" Roukaya Kasenally wondered. The UoM management believes that peer-assessment may partly solve that problem but is there any guarantee that students will be fair to one another?

In view of all these difficulties and especially because it has never been in the students' habits to use group work, the UoM might have to review its system. "The UoM definitely needs change. However, change takes time and consensus on any important decisions must be a condition. We have never been consulted for these decisions and have been informed of them only two weeks before the start of the year. We need long-term solutions and not stop-gap measures that will only aggravate the situation', the senior lecturer concluded.

PEDAGOGY

The benefits of group work

â- Although the university is failing to convince that group work is the best answer to the current problems, this method nevertheless includes a series of advantages that can serve pupils and students for a lifetime. Teachers in primary and secondary should start implementing this way of working at an early level to provide children with specific skills. Group work can be valuable for a variety of reasons such as:

- Sharing ideas and experience - thus encouraging social interaction for isolated and rural students.

- Acknowledging and utilising individual students' additional strengths and expertise

- Increasing the quality of output

- Finding ways of solving problems

- Providing a supportive environment for challenging work

- Developing essential skills such as organisation, negotiation, teamwork, co-operation and leadership for use throughout the career.