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Background: School climate is crucial: its character can affect pupils academic achievement, teachers working conditions and the wellbeing of everyone at school. A major concern for teachers is how to prevent and manage disruptive behaviours. Against this backdrop, there is a need for thorough investigation of pupils perspectives to better understand their perceptions of the climate at their schools and their views about why disruptive behaviours occur. Purpose: In this small-scale, qualitative study, we aimed to contribute to the body of school climate research by exploring pupils perspectives on school climate, teachers and relationships at school. Method: We conducted an in-depth qualitative analysis, exploring pupils perspectives on these issues through focus group interviews. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were conducted (n = 104) with grade 1-9 (7- to 15-year-old) pupils from a school in Sweden. The interview guide included questions about sense of safety, relationships at school and in classrooms, and pupils views of teachers. Constructivist grounded theory was used as the analytical framework. Findings: A recurrent pattern identified in the data was the focus on disruptive behaviours and how these were connected to the pupils learning environment, sense of safety and teachers. Three core categories were conceptualised from the pupils perspectives: (a) within-pupil explanations, (b) teaching style explanations and (c) peer group process explanations. We adopted a social-ecological approach to conceptualise the complexities and interplay of factors addressed by the pupils in their perspectives on disruptive behaviours. Conclusions: Our findings provide insight into the way that different factors interplay in the emergence of disruptive behaviours in the classroom, nested within both contextual and structural aspects. This analysis of pupil perspectives also points to the importance of a whole-school approach in which teachers establish a warm, responsive and confident teaching style in the classroom and in the playground to influence the social dynamics.

Background Group processes in inter-professional Problem-Based Learning (iPBL) groups have not yet been studied in the health-care educational context. In this paper we present findings on how group-dynamics, collaboration, and tutor style influence the perception of profession-based stereotypes of students collaborating in iPBL groups. Health-care students are trained in iPBL groups to increase their ability to collaborate with other healthcare professionals. Previous research focusing iPBL in healthcare implies that more systematic studies are desired, especially concerning the interaction between group processes and internalized professional stereotypes. The aim of this study is to investigate whether changes in group processes, collaboration, and tutor style, influence the perception of profession-based stereotypes of physician- and nursing-students. Methods The study is a quasi-experimental pre- post-design. The participants included 30 students from five different healthcare professions, mainly medicine and nursing. Other professions were physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. The students were divided into four iPBL groups, each consisting of six to nine students and a tutor. Data were collected through systematic observation using four video-recorded tutorials. SPGR (Systematizing the Person Group Relation), a computer-supported method for direct and structured observation of behavior, was used to collect and analyze the data. Results Traditional stereotypical profession-based behaviors were identified in the first observed group meeting. Although the groups followed different paths of development, the group-dynamics changed in all groups over the 6 weeks of collaboration. Two of the groups became more cohesive, one became more fragmented and one became more polarized. Stereotypical behaviors became less frequent in all groups. Our findings indicate that tutor behavior has a strong influence on the development of the group’s dynamics. Conclusion Our findings strongly suggest iPBL is a means of reducing stereotypical behaviors, and may positively increase members’ ability to engage in inter-professional collaboration. Although the pattern of dynamics took different forms in different groups, we argue that iPBL forces students to see the colleague behind his or her profession, thus breaking professional boundaries. The tutor style significantly influenced the iPBL groups’ development. This study contributes to our field by emphasizing the effect of group-processes in increasing mutual understanding across professions.

Group work assessment is a challenging and complex practice for teachers. This study focuses on the challenges teachers perceive before and after participating in a group work assessment project that emphasizes individual assessment. By conducting a qualitative thematic analysis of twelve interviews with six teachers at upper secondary schools in Sweden, several challenges could be identified. The most prominent challenge concerning group work assessment is how to discern students’ individual performance within groups. This challenge has consequences for both the validity and the fairness of the assessment. Further, teachers experienced challenges with (un)fairness in group work assessment, in terms of both achieving fairness and having to deal with students’ emotions regarding perceived unfairness. The results also show how teachers perceive inadequate conditions, such as a lack of time and methods, and generate challenges in their practice, which is also related to reliability. Funding agencies: Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research CouncilEuropean Commission [VR 721 2012-5476]

Group work assessment is often described by teachers as complex and challenging, with individual assessment and fair assessment emerging as dilemmas. The aim of this literature review is to explore and systematize research about group work assessment in educational settings. This is an integrated research area consisting of research combining group work and classroom assessment. A database search was conducted, inspired by the guidelines of the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses). The analysis and categorization evolved into a typology consisting of five themes: (a) purpose of group work assessment, (b) what is assessed in group work, (c) methods for group work assessment, (d) effects and consequences of group work assessment, and (e) quality in group work assessment. The findings reveal that research in the field of group work assessment notably focuses on social skills and group processes. Peer assessment plays a prominent role and teachers as assessors are surprising absences in the reviewed research. Funding agencies: Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council [VR 721 2012-5476]

Group work is an educational mode that promotes learning and socialisation among students. In this study, we focused on the inclusive processes when students work in small groups. The aim was to investigate and describe students’ inclusive and collaborative processes in group work and how the teacher supported or impeded these transactions. Social Interdependence Theory was utilised as the theoretical perspective overarching the study. The observational data employed were collected by video-recording group work. A part of Black-Hawkins framework of participation was used to define inclusion and for the analysis of inclusive and collaborative processes. The results suggest that students’ active participation in the discussions around the group work structures and analytical discussions, together with the teacher’s more defined feedback and avoidance of the traditional authoritative role, are examples of prerequisites for group work to be enacted in an inclusive manner. Funding agencies: Swedish Research Council [721 2012-5476]

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an internationally recognised pedagogical approach that is implemented\ud within a number of disciplines. The relevance and uptake of PBL in psychology has to date, however,\ud received very limited attention. The aim of this paper is therefore to review published accounts on how\ud PBL is being used to deliver psychology curricula in higher education and to highlight psychological\ud research that offers practical strategies for PBL theory and practice. The paper is divided into three\ud sections. In the first, we discuss the principles of PBL and provide examples of how it can be used within\ud psychology curricula, alongside a consideration of its advantages and disadvantages. In the second section, we outline the results of a systematic literature review of published examples of PBL used within\ud psychology undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Finally, in the third section, we examine some of\ud the ways in which psychological research can provide practical guidance for PBL teaching practice. We\ud conclude this paper with some recommendations for future research across all these areas, and call for\ud the further development of PBL curricula in psychology higher education course provision.

This study aims to provide a better understanding of teachers’ managing roles when using group work in the classroom. Building on Granström’s (2007) two concepts of leadership and teachership, a more specific aim is to investigate teachers’ managing roles when using group work and how teachers’ presumptions affect the way in which they manage the pedagogical mode. The results show that teachers’ managing roles influence teachers’ willingness to use group work. Teachers may be unwilling to use group work based on their presumption that it teaches students only collaboration abilities and not subject knowledge. This may be a supplemental yet significant explanation as to why group work continues to decrease in classrooms.

Group work is used as a means of learning at all levels of most educational systems. However, teachers often use group work without considering its “pros and cons.” Such a mode of non-reflected application may sometimes end up in positive experiences and learning, but the likelihood is that the outcome will be the opposite. The aim of this qualitative study is to address students’ experiences of collaborative group work, that is, when working as a group. What features do students emphasise in their experiences and descriptions of constructive and destructive group work? A prime aim is to give the students a voice in the matter. Data was collected by means of six focus groups with students aged 13-16, and a qualitative content analysis was performed. The originality of this research is three-folded. First, it discloses what students consider as important requisites for a successful group work. Their inside knowledge about classroom activities end up in a list (a taxonomy) of crucial conditions for high-quality group work. Second, the conditions mentioned by the students have all been confirmed by recent scientific research. Thus, thirdly, the present study may provide teachers with evidence-based knowledge about successful group work.

Students appreciate group work as a means of learning and several studies also suggest that students who work together in groups have better learning outcomes. Nevertheless, teachers still seem reluctant to use group work as a pedagogical tool in the classroom. The main focus of this qualitative study is to address group work as a classroom activity from the teachers’ perspectives, and more specifically to ascertain why teachers are reluctant to use group work as a mode of working in education. Data were collected by means of focus group interviews with teachers from three different schools, and the analysis was carried out using grounded theory. The uniqueness of this study is that the results show that teachers’ presumptions, together with their mode of procedure and their negligible reflections regarding subject knowledge as a learning outcome when using group work, have a decisive influence on their willingness to use group work.

The overarching interest in this project is to gain knowledge about what happens in the meeting between group work and assessment in pedagogical practice. Grounded theory methodology, was used as methodology and data have been gathered by focus group interviews with 11 teachers teaching students aged 11 to 16 years. The results show that teachers primarily used informal approaches, a general language and the descriptions about what they assessed and how assessment was carried out. This article elucidates some of the teachers’ problems concerning assessment in group work and some pedagogical implications based on empirical findings. Background: The overarching interest in this project is to gain knowledge about what happens in the meeting between group work and assessment in pedagogical practice. There seems to be a tension between the demand for individual assessment of students’ knowledge and abilities and the demand to teach students collaboration abilities through group work. A previous study concerning teachers’ management of group work as a classroom activity (Hammar Chiriac & Forslund Frykedal, 2011) reveals that assessment is a highly relevant factor. In addition, teachers seem to experience difficulties and acknowledge some challenges and problems as regards assessing students working in a group. Purpose: The main purpose of this study was to obtain not only increased knowledge of how teachers assess individual learning occurring in group work, but also explore how teachers manage the emerging challenges. An additional purpose was, with support from previous research within the area, to provide a means of handling these challenges. Sample: Data were gathered by means of three focus group interviews. The informants were 11 teachers. They taught students aged 11 to 16 years in compulsory education in Sweden during the spring of 2009. Design and method: Grounded theory methodology, together with the theoretical perspective of symbolic interactionism, was used to increase comprehension of the teachers’ problems when assessing learning outcome in group work. The transcribed discussions in the focus groups were analysed by means of theoretical sampling, and a number of categories emerged. Results: The results show that teachers primarily used informal approaches when they assessed students’ knowledge and abilities in group work situations. The teachers used a general level when talking about assessment and the descriptions about what they assess were vague. In the teachers’ accounts of what is assessed it is possible to distinguish both the product and the process carried out at an individual as well as at a group level. Furthermore, the results reveal two different assessment strategies, that is how the assessment was carried out; by teachers (from outside the group) or by students (from inside the group). Additionally, the results disclosed that the teachers have difficulties in concretising and verbalising what and how they assess. The teachers also experienced uncertainty and contradictory demands concerning assessment of students in group work. They were concerned about this difficulty. Conclusion: The teachers were of the opinion that group work is used foremost to develop group work abilities and not as a means of acquiring academic knowledge. This influenced the teachers’ mode of using assessment, that is, they focussed on assessing the collaborative abilities. This article elucidates some of the teachers’ problems concerning assessment in group work and some pedagogical implications based on empirical findings. Research-based theories and models within these areas could increase teachers’ confidence, which, in turn, could increase good practice, their ability to use group work as a mode and also their competence in assessment.

When group work is used as pedagogical practice in compulsory schools, teachers are expected to assess each student’s individual knowledge even if learning has been gained in interaction with other ...