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Group work has become increasingly important in higher education, largely as a result of the greater emphasis on skills, employability and lifelong learning. However, it is often introduced in a hurry, can be unsupported and may be assessed without fully exploring the consequences (www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/learning/assessment.group). Both group work and its assessment have been the focus of considerable research and debate in the higher education literature; see for example reviews by Webb (1994), Nightingale et al. (1996) and Boud et al. (1999). Davis (1993) identifies three types of group work: formal learning groups, informal learning groups and study groups. Formal groups are established to complete a specific task in one class session or over many weeks, such as a laboratory experiment or the compilation of an environmental impact report. Informal groups involve ad hoc clusters of students who work in class to discuss an issue or test understanding. Study teams are formed to provide support for members, usually for the duration of a project or module. This guide will focus on formal group activity and its assessment. Group work is highly complex, however, and assessment should consider both the product or outcome and the process of student learning (Webb 1994, Glebhill and Smith 1996). Consequently, the development of effective group work assessment strategies, designed to engage the students and provide the best possible learning experience, raises a number of important questions. For example, what is the most effective group size? How should the groups be formed? How can we best prepare students for group work? What are the most effective ways of supporting groups and individuals within them? To what extent should group progress be monitored by tutors? How should we assess group work and where does the balance lie between product and process, and group and individual? What is the most effective way of gathering meaningful student feedback for 2 the purposes of evaluation and review? This guide will explore these questions and many others. It will begin by looking at the benefits of group work and its assessment before exploring some of the key concerns. It will then reflect on some personal experiences and lessons learned from the planning and delivery of group work assessment strategies, with a view to providing some ideas and tips for good practice.

How can I best support individuals who may feel marginalised during group work activity and assessment, whilst maintaining equity and transparency in tutor-led support across the entire cohort?

In the last week of April, Dr Tony Mellor and five colleagues from the School of Applied Sciences took 34 Geography students on field work to Andalucia in southern Spain. This residential trip takes place annually as part of a core module on the second year of the BSc (Hons) Geography degree programme. The module enables students to: (a) apply skills of observation, measurement and data collection in a real world field context, (b) demonstrate skills in project design, report writing, oral presentation and group work, and (c) describe and interpret physical and environmental processes operating in the study area and discuss howthey contribute to the distinctiveness of its landscapes.

This study examines the pedogenic processes and temporal changes occurring in soils across six different aged plantations of Corsican pine (Pinus nigra), which were otherwise similar in their environmental characteristics, including geology, slope angle and aspect, altitude and land use history. A representative soil profile was sampled, on a horizon basis, and a further 10 topsoil samples were collected, on a grid basis, from each plantation. Properties determined in the laboratory included pH, organic carbon content, particle size distribution, exchangeable base content (Ca, Mg, K, Na), total free and organically-bound iron content, and lead and zinc concentrations. Morphological and chemical changes within the soil profiles were examined to shed light on the processes and pathways of soil formation, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare topsoil characteristics between the different plantations. Morphological and chemical changes within the soil profiles indicated that organic matter accumulation and mor humus formation, acidification, clay translocation (lessivage) and incipient podzolisation were the dominant pedogenic processes. There are very few systematic age-related changes in soil morphological or physical and chemical characteristics, possibly due to a combination of young stand ages, high topsoil variability, soil mixing due to drainage operations and silvicultural practices. There are, however, a number of statistically significant but non-systematic differences in soil properties between the different aged plantation blocks. Possible associations between these differences and age-related litter production and root growth, and silvicultural operations such as understory control, plantation thinning and selective harvesting are explored.