Conflict management in student groups - a teacher’s perspective in higher education

Borg, MarkusLund University,Lunds universitet,Institutionen för datavetenskap,Institutioner vid LTH,Lunds Tekniska Högskola,Department of Computer Science,Departments at LTH,Faculty of Engineering, LTH (author)

Students working in groups is a commonly used method of instruction in higher education, popularized by the introduction of problem based learning. As a result, management of small groups of people has become an important skill for teachers. The objective of our study is to investigate why conflicts arise in student groups at the Faculty of Engineering at Lund University and how teachers manage them. We have conducted an exploratory interdepartmental interview study on teachers' views on this matter, interviewing ten university teachers with different levels of seniority. Our results show that conflicts frequently arise in group work, most commonly caused by different levels of ambition among students. We also found that teachers prefer to work proactively against conflicts and stress the student’s responsibility. Finally, we show that teachers at our faculty tend to avoid the more drastic conflict resolution strategies suggested by previous research. The outcome of our study could be used as input to future guidelines on conflict management in student groups.

Kembro, JoakimLund University,Lunds universitet,Teknisk logistik,Institutionen för maskinvetenskaper,Institutioner vid LTH,Lunds Tekniska Högskola,Engineering Logistics,Department of Mechanical Engineering Sciences,Departments at LTH,Faculty of Engineering, LTH(Swepub:lu)tlog-jik (author)
Holmén Notander, JesperLund University,Lunds universitet,Institutionen för datavetenskap,Institutioner vid LTH,Lunds Tekniska Högskola,Department of Computer Science,Departments at LTH,Faculty of Engineering, LTH(Swepub:lu)csz-jsn (author)
Petersson, CatarinaLund University,Lunds universitet,Matematik (naturvetenskapliga fakulteten),Matematikcentrum,Institutioner vid LTH,Lunds Tekniska Högskola,Matematik LTH,Matematisk statistik,Mathematics (Faculty of Sciences),Centre for Mathematical Sciences,Departments at LTH,Faculty of Engineering, LTH,Mathematics (Faculty of Engineering),Faculty of Engineering, LTH,Mathematical Statistics,Faculty of Engineering, LTH(Swepub:lu)math-cpe (author)
Ohlsson, LarsLund University,Lunds universitet,Institutionen för elektro- och informationsteknik,Institutioner vid LTH,Lunds Tekniska Högskola,Department of Electrical and Information Technology,Departments at LTH,Faculty of Engineering, LTH(Swepub:lu)eit-loh (author)
Institutionen för datavetenskapInstitutioner vid LTH (creator_code:org_t)

By the author/editor: Borg, Markus; Kembro, Joakim; Holmén Notander, ...; Petersson, Catar ...; Ohlsson, Lars

About the subject

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