10th ISL call for papers 1. Aims Aims are implicit in most, if not all, groups though they are not often thought about and even less often discussed.
Aims also have social and task dimensions.
They are complementary. If the social dimension is not given due regard, students may feel cool about the group and have no sense of commitment. If the task dimension is missing they may become dissatisfied and feel frustrated at not achieving anything worthwhile. The social dimension has an additional educational scope. Sometimes these personal aims, for example, impressing the tutor, scoring off another student, wanting approval of the group, capitalising on other students' ideas, may undermine the intended aims of the tutor.