Teaching practice: Small group work

Editor's Note: This article is part of a series of 10 best practice pieces to have published in 2017. Access them here:

Last week we examined ways of teaching large groups of students in an attempt to bring the much-maligned lecture back into favour (see the end of the article for a link to all the articles published in this series so far).

We said that the lecture is a cost-effective means of teaching large groups of students with fewer staff. It’s a good use of precious learning space, too.

We also concluded that the lecture gives whole cohorts a shared experience so that each student is made to feel a part of the group and knows exactly what is expected of them. Lectures give students a sense of “belonging”, we said; and can make studying in large groups a positive experience so that students feel valued and cared for.