2019 Annual Conference

Colleges and Universities

Concurrent Session (45 minutes)

In online adult, continuing and higher education courses students hold strong cognitive-emotional beliefs about group work that often go unexamined.  The critical reflection tool introduced in this session helps learners reflect on their beliefs and group experience by considering them in relation to two contrasting leadership orientations: individualistic and collectivist.

Instructors who use group projects in online adult, continuing and higher education programs. Training directors, trainers, program managers and adult educators seeking to improve skills and transform mindsets for collaborative teams and leadership.

Explore one’s perspective on adult learner beliefs that underlie behavior in virtual group projects and team work.
Learn to apply strategies for fostering critical reflection on individual experience in virtual group projects and team work.
Learn to guide adult learners in group projects to interpret their beliefs and behaviors in relation to individualistic and collectivist/inclusive leadership orientations.

Fostering adult learning through virtual group projects is a common instructional strategy, yet many adult learners dislike these group assignments and it is questionable whether students learn the collaborative practices intended.  Student beliefs about group process, how to structure the work, and leadership affect how they approach a team project, but these beliefs and behaviors often go unexamined as they focus on mastering the content knowledge being assessed.  To foster critical reflection on group work, adult educators teaching online need frameworks and tools that help learners examine their beliefs, behaviors, and how they interpret their experience.  This session introduces a tool created to help adult learners connect typical beliefs about project work with two broad leadership orientations, individualistic and collectivist.  These two orientations need not be the main focus of the group project.  Rather the brief descriptions detailed in the tool help adult learners identify the social-emotional aspects of their experience and consider them in relation to leadership practices.  Fostering critical reflection on group work sets the stage for learners to engage in transforming and reconstructing their beliefs about shared, relational and inclusive leadership practices as these skills are increasingly needed in today’s diverse organizations.

Active learning exploring adult students’ beliefs and values underlying behaviors in virtual project groups and team work, brief PowerPoint presentation to provide an overview of the framework and tool, and small and large group discussion about applying the framework and tool.