RUME 28
2026
Alexandria, Virginia
“But You Gotta Put In Work”: The Difference of Groupwork
Page: 1206
We report on an extension of previous findings from a project aimed at improving equitable group work in the context of undergraduate proof-based courses through designing and implementing group-worthy tasks. This quantitative method study reports on three group-worthy tasks implemented in two topology courses. We investigated how student interactions in small groups reflect participatory equity when relating to perceived academic status along with differences in participation patterns between the two classes. Results are indicative of the tasks having the effect of balancing talk turns regardless of status, disrupting status hierarchy, or neither; similar to what has been reported previously. These findings suggest that implementation of group-worthy tasks is not sufficient to ensure equitable participation in small groups and that normalized groupwork has no impact on the effectiveness of the utilized tasks.