What is permitted as group work can vary from course to course, and from assignment to assignment within a course. Collaborating with others can help you understand and retain information, clarify confusing subject materials, and apply what you have learned. However, it is your responsibility as a student to determine what kinds of collaboration are permitted within a particular course or assignment.
The course instructor will clarify and provide direction about what kinds of group work and collaboration are acceptable within a particular course or assignment.
Click the sections below to review guidelines for acceptable group work or collaboration on assignments. You may also want to consult the Student Guide to Group Work guide to help you engage in successful group work.
Study Groups
Study groups are common in many disciplines and courses. Working together and drawing on one another’s ideas is often expected and encouraged. Work that is typically permissible in study groups includes:
- comparing and reviewing study notes
- discussing and clarifying concepts
- developing and evaluating study strategies
- studying together for tests and exams
- reviewing graded assignments and exams
Things to avoid in study groups:
- copying written text, tables, diagrams, code, and charts from other students and submitting the work as your own
- working together on an assignment when it has been designated as an individual activity
Group Assignments and Projects
Group assignments and project-based evaluations are often used in courses to evaluate your ability to work collaboratively and contribute towards a common objective.
Work that is typically permissible in group assignments and projects:
- collaborating on the structure, approach and execution of an assignment
- completing an assignment through a division of labour that has been agreed upon by the group and has been documented
Things to avoid in group assignments and projects:
- not keeping track of who is doing what. Many instructors will request documentation or information about each person’s contribution to an assignment
- taking credit for work completed by another individual in the group
- relying on outside services such as editing services or research services to complete elements of the assignment
- relying on an AI-based tool to complete elements of the assignment without providing proper acknowledgement and without the knowledge of your group members or the instructor. See the Using AI-Based Tools Responsibly section for more information.
Peer Feedback on Drafts of Assignments
In general, seeking feedback from your peers on your writing can be very valuable when it is permitted by the instructor. To avoid engaging in unauthorized collaboration, however, ensure that you remain involved. The editing process should not exclude you from the decisions being made about even minor editing choices in your paper. To ensure you are maintaining academic integrity, do not relinquish authorship over your paper. Rather, carefully consider feedback and the rationales driving it so that::
- you can choose how to best make use of the feedback
- you can learn from the feedback and become a better self-editor
To help you gather feedback from peers, consult the Peer Feedback Guide.
Remember, if sharing your work with another student when sharing is not permitted, both you and the other student may be found responsible for a breach of academic conduct, and you may both receive a sanction.
