This document discusses strategies for making group work and classroom discussions more inclusive of international and multicultural students. It identifies potential barriers to participation such as cultural differences in communication styles, lack of relevant knowledge or language skills. Suggested approaches for instructors include structuring tasks to consider diverse experiences, assessing participation in varied ways, and providing support for developing group work skills. The benefits of inclusive approaches that capitalize on diversity are outlined.

1. Facilitating Inclusivity
During Group Work and Discussion Activities in Seminars
Laura Schnablegger
UTTP 2015

2. Objectives
 By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
 Identify the causes of a lack of student participation in group work
and discussions during in-class activities; and
 Identify and apply approaches and strategies to develop inclusivity
in group work and discussions activities while analyzing case studies
that are representative of multilingual and multicultural higher
education classrooms.

3. Outline
 DISCUSS: Your experiences with participation
 LEARN: Barriers to Inclusive Discussions and Group Work
Activities
 ENGAGE: Case Studies
 Strategies for Facilitating Inclusive Discussions and Group Work

4. Reflection Questions
 How did the large group questioning make you feel?
 As a learner, what challenges do you experience when
participating in in-class discussions and group work?

5. Discuss with a Partner
 Share your responses to the previous questions
with a partner
 Think about:
 What type of participation is commonly expected in
higher education classrooms?
 Are these participation activities inclusive? If not, why?

6. Barriers to Inclusive Discussions/ Group
Work Activities
 Cultural Differences
 Learning, Studying and Personal Preferences
 Differences in Experience and Knowledge
 Video: The Use of Silence in Japan

7. High Context vs. Low Context Cultures

8. Student-Centered Learning Approaches
 Culturally rooted approaches to student learning
 Dependent on oral communication
 Silence/lack of participation = social isolation, deficits in critical
thinking skills or English language
 Don’t reflect learning traditions of other cultures (Turner, 2013)
 Value individual reflection and silent critical contemplation

9. Why might international students struggle
to participate in discussions and groups?
 Culture
 Cultural communication styles / cultural learning traditions
 Have less experience with participation than North American peers
 Feeling marginalized or excluded
 Use of cultural references in classrooms
 Language
 Lack of confidence in oral language abilities
 Challenges in processing speech rate of native-English speakers

10. Why might international students struggle
to participate in discussions and groups?
 Different understandings of collaboration
(individualistic versus collectivist)
 Different expectations of group member behaviour
 Different methods of communicating conflict
 Different goals (individual versus group reward)

11. Why might any student struggle to
participate in discussions and groups?
 Different levels of knowledge or experience
 Talkative students
 Need more context/ knowledge to contribute
 Challenges with establishing team dynamics and processes
(Popov et al., 2012)
 Planning and task coordination
 Decision making
 Timeline adherence
 Agreeing to group behaviour

12. What can we do as instructors?
 Participation as a Skill
 Consider group work and participation as skills that need
to be developed
 Don’t assume all students have participation skills
 Explore student participation on a smaller scale
 Assess student participation in different ways
 Don’t assume student integration will occur naturally or
over time

13. What can we do as instructors?
 Give thought to task and logistics (Edmead, 2013)
 Do all students have the cultural related knowledge and
experience to answer the questions?
 Do all students have an equal opportunity to participate (given
time and class size)?

14. What can we do as instructors?
 Structure and Support Group Work
 Based on research, the following elements will foster the
involvement of all students and will lead to increased
motivation (Kimmel and Volet, 2010)
 Teacher support
Allow class time to work on group projects
Assign reasonable workload
Monitor free-riding

15. Continued from previous slide…
Emphasize relevance of group work (Pfaff
and Huddleston,2003)
Include in learning outcomes
Clear task instructions
Establish group dynamics
Better group dynamics result when students know
how to act and what to expect from their
counterparts in group situations (Popov et al. (2012)

16. What can we do as instructors?
 Consider alternatives to instructor-driven
evaluation
 Student-self assessment
 Peer evaluation or input
 See Mainkar (2008) who developed a peer evaluation
sheet for discussion contributions

17. Debate:
Group work used as assessment
 Might not promote group work skills as the pressure to succeed
overrides student desire to engage with the process (Edmead, 2013)
Vs.
 Individualists are more likely to “loaf” if individual contributes to
group are not rewarded or noticed (Popov et al., 2012)
 My Recommendation: Evaluate BOTH individual contributions and final
group product (also consider having peers assess each other)

18. Debate:
Monocultural vs. Multicultural Groups
 Culturally diverse groups
 Differences in prior knowledge, experiences and
understandings become more apparent
 BUT it increases opportunities to
 Share knowledge, cultural backgrounds, experiences and learning
traditions
 Help students value diversity
 Help students think critically about their biases and assumptions
 Kimmel and Volet (2010)

19. Benefits
 Builds confidence in expressing opinions and views
 Capitalize on diverse and multicultural environment (Edmead,
2013)
 Creates a more supported learning environment for all students
 Students who actively participate retain more information
(Mainkar, 2008)

20. Final Activity
 Group work – scenario analysis
 Assign group roles (recorder, time keeper, presenters)
 Determine instructional strategies you would use to address
the scenario provided
 Large group discuss – share your strategies

21. Questions?
 Please feel free to write down questions on cards with your e-mail
address
 Laura Schnablegger
English-as-an-Additional Language Specialist
Learning and Curriculum Support Team
schnable@uoguelph.ca
X 52086

22. References
 Edmead, C. (2013). Chapter 1: Capitalising on a multicultural learning
environment: Using group work as a mechanism for student integration In J.
Ryan (Ed.) Cross-Cultural Teaching and Learning for Home and International
Students: Internationalisation of Pedagogy and Curriculum in Higher
Education. New York: Routledge.
 Kimmel K. and Volet S. (2010). Significance of context in university students’
(meta) cognitions related to group work: A multi-layered, multi-dimensional
and cultural approach. Learning and Instruction, 20. Retrieved from
www.lib.uoguelph.ca
 Mainkar, A. (2008). A student-empowered system for measuring and weighing
participation in class discussion. Journal of Management Education, 32 (1).
Retrieved from www.lib.uoguelph.ca

23. References
 McGrath-Champ et al. (2013). Chapter 2: Exploring new frontiers in an
internationalised classroom: Team-based learning and reflective journals as
innovative learning strategies. In J. Ryan (Ed.) Cross-Cultural Teaching and
Learning for Home and International Students: Internationalisation of
Pedagogy and Curriculum in Higher Education. New York: Routledge.
 Pfaff E. and Huddleston P. (2003). Does it matter if I hate teamwork? What
impacts student attitudes towards teamwork. Journal of Marketing
Education, 25 (1). Retrieved from www.lib.uoguelph.ca

24. References
 Popov et al. (2012). Multicultural student group work in higher education. An
explorative case study on challenges as perceived by students. International
Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36. Retrieved from www.lib.uoguelph.ca
 Turner, Y. (2013). Pathologies of silence? Reflecting on international learner
identities amidst the classroom chatter. In J. Ryan (Ed.) Cross-Cultural
Teaching and Learning for Home and International Students:
Internationalisation of Pedagogy and Curriculum in Higher Education. New
York: Routledge.