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“Here’s the worksheet” the U:PASS* leader said, “work together, talk to each other”. 

But once again, I could see that the students were silent and completely focused on their own work. 

Some would say, “That’s great! You’ve got students working on university level problems”, but isn’t this exactly why COVID was so hard for students? They were isolated, they didn’t make friends, or learn from each other. Everyone was in their own learning bubble and it was so hard. 

Other students will email: “Can’t I just have the worksheet? Why do I have to come?”.

Because going to U:PASS is as much about forming a learning community and making friends as it is about learning the content off a worksheet. Not only that, the experience of having a senior student support, guide and mentor you is pretty awesome, and pretty priceless. 

Tips for encouraging collaboration

So what is my advice for leaders who are struggling with getting students to collaborate and actually talk in the U:PASS class? My top tips: 

  1. You’ve got to design collaboration. Don’t just say: “Collaborate”. The students won’t. The research shows that levels of loneliness and anxiety have gone up since COVID. This generation needs you, the facilitator, to help them break the ice.
  2. Worksheets won’t work: just giving them a worksheet to work on immediately focuses their attention on their own work. The revision material in the worksheet might be very good (and honestly, usually is) but you won’t get any collaboration unless you give instructions and design it in. Even taking the worksheet questions, dividing them up and getting the students to write on the board or butchers’ paper will really change the vibe. Bear in mind, butcher’s paper is best posted on walls (Check out this fabulous podcast by Edsurge: Why a new teaching approach is going viral on social media (Encore Episode, YouTube).
  3. Use social pressure for your good: A few years before COVID, I had the opportunity to teach in a nursing tutorial. Unlike U:PASS, some of those students didn’t want to be there. But I was ready for them. Each group was asked to do a section of work and present it back to the class. This created social pressure – each group was interdependent and pride was on the line. Sure enough, this group was gently embarrassed and realised their level of effort didn’t match with the rest of the class. They were pulled up to the level of the others. 
  4. Competition is your friend: I previously wrote about this – something about competition links into social pressure and helps you get interaction and collaboration where otherwise it might not happen. A good tip is to get students to choose their team name – even deciding that will break the ice.
  5. Students will have done nothing, often: I don’t know if students are like this across the board, but certainly in U:PASS we often have students who haven’t watched the lectures or been to the tutorials, so they are basically starting blank. We design our activities to begin with basic concepts so they can build some sense of confidence and self-efficacy.  
  6. Don’t leave them dangling:  If students are stuck, be ready to give them options to work their way out of it – e.g. direct referrals to lecture slides, or other learning materials the subject coordinator has usually comprehensively provided. Knowing the material is there is one thing, finding it and feeling confident to look at it is another. A peer leader can help with both.  

I hope this helps you get collaboration in your classroom!  

(*U:PASS leaders are senior students running collaborative study sessions in challenging first year subjects).

  • Georgina, this article offers valuable insights into fostering collaboration among students! I love how you emphasise the need for intentionally designed activities rather than leaving it to chance. Your practical tips, like using social pressure and competition, are creative and crucial in overcoming the isolation many students have felt post-COVID. It’s clear that building a learning community is as important as the content itself, and your passion for enhancing student engagement truly shines through. Thank you for sharing these thoughtful strategies!

    • Thanks so much for your encouragement Cemen! Sorry I was on leave but it’s lovely to hear.

  • I agree Georgina and thank you for these tips. “Spot on” Amanda – we need some techniques to encourage collaboration and a standard worksheet does not necessarily do this. I have in the past used a page with two columns – column A might be the steps in a mathematical proof, written on the page, and in an envelope are slips of paper that have a justification for each step, all shuffled. The students need to find the matching slip for each step to construct a column B that makes sense. As each group of say four students only gets one of these packages, there is an encouragement to talk to get the task done. There are other techniques of course – many under the heading of “jig-saw”.

  • Thank you for sharing Georgina! Collaboration is so important, and something that requires planning and facilitation to encourage.

  • Such a great blog post Georgina! I’m a big fan of paper worksheets with guided activities and instructions (even though I do get told off for spending money on printing them)

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