Welcome to the Tuesday Teaching Tip, an easy-to-implement tool that you can use immediately in your classroom teaching. 

TUESDAY TEACHING TIP: Collaborative work

As the term winds down, energy dips—but learning doesn’t have to. Now is a great time to harness the power of structured collaborative group work to reinforce key concepts and give students the chance to shine by teaching each other.

Collaborative assignments are more than just dividing tasks—they deepen learning by encouraging students to synthesize, communicate, and listen across differences. They also offer you a break from front-of-room teaching while keeping students actively engaged. Let students know why they’re collaborating—connect it clearly to learning outcomes and real-world skills like teamwork, analysis, and problem-solving. 

Here’s one way to do it

• Jigsaw technique. Break a larger topic into subtopics. (1) Assign each student or pair one to become the “expert.” (2) Experts meet, prepare their portion, then return to teach their home group. (3) Each group produces a final synthesis product (summary sheet, concept map, or short presentation).
• Stakeholder mapping. (1) Give each student or group a stakeholder role in a complex issue (e.g., policymakers, patients, historical figures). (2) Ask them to respond to a scenario from their stakeholder’s view, then post insights on a board or shared doc. (3) Use this to spark discussion or a reflective paper.

Group work at the end of the term gives students ownership of the material, makes learning active again, and often sparks deeper insight—just when motivation might be waning. And as a bonus? You’ll see your students do the teaching for you.

Let the collaboration—and the learning—carry you all across the finish line.

DID YOU DO IT?

Let us know how it went. We would love to hear your feedback about how you implemented today’s Tuesday Teaching Tip in your classroom. Click here to fill out our 3-question survey. The survey is anonymous, but if you choose to enter your name, you’ll be entered in a drawing at the end of the quarter to win a new book from Faculty Development!

UPCOMING EVENTS 

• Join us this Thursday, May 29th for the upcoming CAFE: “The Unique Experiences of Gen Z in the College Classroom”. Read more and register here. 
• Don’t miss our final CAFE of the year on June 5th! CAFE: Gifts, where our Faculty Associates will share some of their favorite teaching practices—and invite you to share yours too! Register here. 

WANT TO READ A LITTLE MORE?

• Check out these DRT resources from SCU on Group Work and Engaging & Inclusive Activities.

This week’s Tuesday Teaching Tip was prepared by Cara Chiaraluce on behalf of the Faculty Collaborative.

 

Missed a teaching tip? Read them all here. Don’t forget to check out our Faculty Associates office hours here.

And check out our full calendar of CAFEs and other Faculty Development and Faculty Collaborative events.