Happy collaboration is not on our rubric, but it should be

The class is over, and students quickly leave, chatting happily as they head to lunch. But one student stays behind; he has something to ask. 

He tells me that his teammate is unresponsive. No mails, no messages, no contribution to the project. The deadline is tomorrow. 

Now, this might seem like just another group-work headache to you. But not to me. You see, there are moments in a researcher’s life that are both awaited and dreaded: the moments when you finally apply what you spent years researching.

My PhD, for example, is on emotional support to students facing group issues. I researched what to say to support students when teamwork goes wrong — when a teammate doesn’t work, when collaboration fails, when the group gets stuck. I asked teachers and students: "What should I say?" Then I turned their answers into an algorithm: a small “if… then” tree containing the holy grail of supportive responses. But don't think about it as an algorithm. 

Think about it as a pharmacist. 

A smiling pharmacist behind a counter in a small shop full of colourful vials.

A student walks in, stressed about a missing teammate. The pharmacist has just the tonic.

“Things are hard? Here's some Empathy.”
“Teammate not working? A sip of Conversation on Mutual Expectations.”
“Still stressed? You need a few drops of Email the Teacher. Use in moderation.”

And I have trained with my pharmacist. I know what to say now. Maybe my little pharmacist–algorithm will finally cure a terrible disease I developed the day someone gave me the responsibility of teaching: the endless overthinking about what to say to students.

Maybe I can use it to build a small army of supportive algorithmic minions — minions who care about having a happy group, and teach teachers and students how to support each other. Maybe that could be the start of a new type of teamwork, one that doesn’t cause headaches and becomes a source of support instead — for teachers, for students, for all. 

From here to world peace, how long could it possibly take?

"Prof?"

My student's voice brings me back from my utopia. 

"Sorry, you were saying?"

"If there was just a way to get an individual grade instead of a group one...?"

Well. One has to dream big to crash spectacularly. 

Still, how can I blame him? Feeling supported is nice; passing the course is necessary. Everyone agrees that well-being is important. Nobody explains how to make space for it in your teaching — where to squeeze happiness between the ten unforgiving figures you must assign to your students. 

Group work is the ultimate example: the perfect hiding place for unhappiness. Four teammates happily collaborating, or one exhausted student doing the work for four: in Osiris, they often get the same 8. 

How can I be a supportive teacher in a system where “being happy” is not a requirement to pass? 

"I’m sorry the group isn’t working. 

Now, about the grade…”

On Staff's Viewpoint, UU's employees share their views with the UU community. Isabela Saccardi, a PhD candidate in the Human-Centred Computing Group, is one of the columnists invited for this space. You can also read students' perspectives on Students' Viewpoint and click here to check out students and staff's columns in Dutch.