Theorising group work as an assessment tool in Higher Education at foundation level in Mauritius

Contemporary higher education study inherently encompasses the concepts of group work or collaborative learning into their curriculum. This is a practice-oriented paper that presents group project work within modern-day teaching, learning and assessment theoretical frameworks. By using anecdotal evidence to establish multi-cultural, assessed group work as 'troublesome knowledge' and as 'threshold concepts' for many students, this paper serves as a reminder to academic staff of the challenges faced by students as they navigate through this new learning environment. This paper uses the students' voice as a powerful means of observing students' perceptions on small group project work through private blogs, assessed within a diverse learning background. As a reflective practitioner, the researcher tries to challenge the assumptions academic staff make about student's understanding and familiarity with these fundamental notions. This paper is of significance to university staff as they prepare students for summative group work.

Permission granted by the publisher, Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE), to make the full text of the published version available in the Middlesex University Research Repository