Students' Perceptions of the Factors Leading to Unsuccessful Group Collaboration

A nationwide sample of university students completed a survey that asked questions about their perceptions of the factors that can cause problems which exist with online or general group work. Data were obtained from 173 students at more than 18 different universities in the United Kingdom. Three main problems that exist in group collaboration are identified through an extensive review of literature and addressed as problem scenarios in the survey. These include: poor motivation, lack of individual accountability and negative interdependence. Findings from the survey include that on average more than five factors are acknowledged by the students for each subcategory of problem, and for each scenario the factors that affect the group work are ranked by importance level. Furthermore, we find no statistically significant association between the students' backgrounds and their perceptions of the factors identified.