Giskin Day is a Principal Teaching Fellow at Imperial College London. She is the course director for the intercalated BSc in Medical Sciences with Humanities, Philosophy & Law. Giskin was awarded the Imperial College President's Medal for outstanding contribution to teaching in 2015 and was made a National Teaching Fellow in 2016. She believes in playing for education.

Group work in education is a good model for how most projects are run in the real world. But, like in most work situations, group dynamics are influenced by a range of factors that are mostly down to psychology. Learning that these factors can’t always be predicted or controlled is crucial to the success of setting, executing and assessing group work.

"A group brainstorming session is not the best way to embark on a group task, as viewing any episode of The Apprentice will tell you. Ideally, individuals should spend some time coming up with, and thinking through, ideas on their own before pitching them to the group. The quality of starter ideas then tends to be much better."

"Some of the most important skills students will learn doing group work are how to compromise, and to deal with conflict. Don’t be too quick to intervene – allow students time to try and resolve their differences. But if a group member feels they are being bullied, harassed or victimised, do take action."

"Quite a lot of higher education is perceived as being competitive and students sometimes struggle to switch from vying with each other being collaborative. Group work that goes well can significantly enhance a student’s learning experience and enjoyment of education. It is worth putting time and effort into designing group work tasks that are enriching and intellectually stimulating for students."