Group Work & Ethical Collaboration: Page 3 of 6

While teamwork can enrich your learning experience, it can also be challenging to work collaboratively and cooperatively. Remember to follow the fundamental values of academic integrity when also working in groups.

The following guidelines may assist your team in working more effectively together:

Scheduling:

Meet very early on. Ensure that you schedule an initial meeting right after your team is formed.

Team Contract:

Develop a team charter or working guidelines. During your initial meeting, identify some common goals and ground rules for team members.

Leadership:

Assign a team lead or project manager who can take more of a responsibility for developing the overall project plan such as:

- Determine project timelines
- Set meeting times and agendas
- Confirm work and specific tasks
- Chair project meetings
- Follow‐up on task completion

Team Roles:

Depending on the size of your team, you may wish to assign specific roles and duties (e.g. lead for a specific task) to each member. For example:

Researcher: finds references and articles relevant to the subject; keeps copies of relevant documents and websites.
Writer: converts the team’s ideas into text and structures the final submission.
Editor: checks for grammar, spelling and syntax but also double‐checks facts and references.
Recorder: maintains a record of each member’s contributions, meeting minutes and correspondence between team members (e.g. emails).

Please note: All students are responsible for and expected to contribute to research and writing.

Troubleshooting:

Early intervention can get a team in difficulty back on track. It is expected that teams who are having trouble working together will start by seeking out assistance from their course instructor immediately. Remember that you are expected to meet the submission due dates for your project(s) and that unresolved team issues will not excuse late submissions or incomplete work.

Resource: Strategies for Working in Teams, Centre for Learning Strategy Support