Collaborative or group work is still relatively uncommon in mathematics classrooms, where individual work tends to dominate. For this reason, it’s important to allow time for students to learn how to work together and collaborate through mathematics.

Students who work faster need to learn to wait; those who explain well can support others; those with strong organisational skills may take on leadership roles, and so on. It can be helpful to define specific roles within the group: scribe or information manager, spokesperson, researcher, organiser, etc.

Group work in mathematics also presents a practical challenge: how to organise written work, especially calculations. In research contexts, it’s common to work vertically, standing at a board. Intermediate solutions can be considered in the classroom, such as using an A3 sheet on the table and allowing students to stand so everyone can see the work. Another option is to divide the class into pairs (who can share a sheet or screen) and then discuss the results together afterwards.