- Aim of the study: To examine university students' reflections on group writing as a tool for learning

- Research questions:

1) What did students see as difficulties of group writing?

2) What did students see as dilemmas of group writing?

3) What did students see as outcomes of group writing?

- Theoretical framework:

The theories used were mainly drawn from the areas of cognitive and social constructivism, academic writing and group learning. To begin with, constructivism is a theory of learning that posits that learners actively construct their own knowledge and meaning from their experiences (Doolittle, 1999). It is closely associated with the theories of Vygotsky, Bruner, and Bandura. Both cognitive and social constructivism emphasize "the importance of culture and context in understanding what occurs in society and constructing knowledge based on this understanding” (see http://projects.coe.uga.edu). More specifically, social constructivism views knowledge as being socially constructed, resulting from social interaction and language usage and being negotiated or shared between individuals.

My research interests in group writing and learning stemmed from the fact that in the context of study like anywhere else in the world, there is a paradigm shift from the teacher-controlled to the learner-centred pedagogy. The reason for this paradigm shift is that teachers cannot simply transfer knowledge to students. Rather, students are requested to “build their own minds through a process of assimilating information into their own understandings” (Barkley, Cross, & Major, 2005, p. xi) since meaningful and lasting learning occurs through personal, active involvement.

To stimulate the learners’ active involvement it is advisable to prompt them to work in groups. In fact, it is often argued that group work offers students opportunities to learn valuable interpersonal and teamwork skills which are often required by employers. Besides, group work enables learners “to see individual learning as essentially related to the success of group learning” (see http://gsi.berkeley.edu). 

My interest in academic writing originated from the fact that it is sometimes seen as a complex, challenging, daunting and demanding activity for students but which unfortunately “lies at the very centre of academic performance and success for both academic teachers and their students” (Murray & Moore, 2009, p. ix).

Lastly, my research dwells on group work because it appeals to the use of student discussion in the classroom as propounded by social constructivism theory.

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