Group Work Across Cultures: A Multiple-Case Study in Chinese Classrooms

• In Event: 51.080 - Sheraton Roundtable Session Nine - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 51.080-1 - Considering Culture and Pedagogy

Abstract

The rapid development of internationalization in higher education has created more opportunities for groupwork across cultures. Although its benefits have been acknowledged, groupwork across cultures is often problematic. This study adopts a multiple-case study to identify effective instructional design elements for groupwork across cultures in one university in Hong Kong. Findings identified three design elements: creating interdependence in the assessment tasks; scaffolding through formative assessment; and acknowledging openly cultural-related conflicts and preparing students for solutions. This study illustrates that incorporating cultural perspectives with the cooperative learning model is fruitful and further extends the understanding of groupwork in Chinese classrooms.

Authors

• Tracy X.P. Zou, The University of Hong Kong

• Janet, Yuen Yu Yu, The University of Hong Kong