Managing uncertainty: group assignment tasks that encourage education as sustainability

Purpose This article aims to explore how group-based assignments can contribute to education as sustainability. More specifically, it investigates how the tasks completed as part of group-based assignments contribute to the development of students’ interpersonal competencies in sustainability-focused education. Design/methodology/approach A case study methodology was used to analyse students’ responses to group-based assignments in three sustainability courses at the University of Auckland (UoA), New Zealand. Data was uploaded into NVivo, and thematic analysis was used to identify, analyse and report patterns. Findings The findings highlighted the role of uncertainty in how group-based assignments develop students’ interpersonal competencies. In completing multidimensional assignment tasks, student groups must work together, make decisions and negotiate uncertainty. At the same time, students are trying to reduce the uncertainty of working in groups by dividing up assignment tasks. Educators responsible for designing group assignments in sustainability-related courses should consider how assignment tasks scaffold uncertainty by providing guidance and checkpoints, as managing this uncertainty aids the development of the interpersonal skills and values that promote sustainability. Originality/value This study showed how group assignment tasks can be used to balance levels of student uncertainty and clarity and how an emphasis on the former supports interpersonal relationships and mimics real-world sustainability dynamics.