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A common global perception of group work in the higher education context is that it has the potential to act as a platform which can enable student learning by means of interactions, shared diverse experiences, deep engagement with subject concepts and the achievement of tasks collaboratively. Indeed, in different socio-economic, historical and institutional contexts, group work activities have become levers by which deeper learning could be achieved. Drawing on perceptions and experiences of group work among environmental science students at a South African university, we investigate the ways in which group work could be more expansively viewed as 'terrains of learning' for students. The results in general indicate that students have positive perceptions and experiences of group work, though problematic elements are evident. This particular case study points to the attention that should be paid to understanding issues of background, ethnicity and various student personalities which could hinder or enable the desired student learning. Such an understanding could contribute to debates regarding the achievement of higher quality learning, given issues of diversity and transformation in the South African higher education context.
Key words: Group work, higher education, diversity, learning
Introduction and background to the problem
In recent years, growing research on higher education teaching and student engagement has drawn together insights about those activities that tend to generate high quality or deeper student learning (Rhem, 1995; Biggs, 1999; Mann, 2001; Coates, 2005; Haggis, 2006). According to Rhem (1995), a deeper approach to learning (learning for understanding) is an integrative process in which students synthesise and connect subject material to existing knowledge. Whether one's conception of quality learning relates to the approaches to learning (Marton & Säljö, 1984; Biggs, 1999) or student engagement (Mann, 2001; Coates, 2005), the active involvement and interactions of students is seen as that which better promotes quality learning. The adherence to such principles could be fostered partially by means of group-based activities. Levin (2005) contends that group work provides an educational learning opportunity for students as they are involved in the assessment and processing of alien values and ideas and react to unfamiliar 'knowledge' territories. Group work is also said to promote team work, creativity, cooperative working methods, understanding one another, opportunities to learn from others' experiences and perhaps new...