It’s the night before the big group project is due. You’re anxiously sitting in front of your computer, staring at the screen, hoping that the missing portion of the project will magically appear. Except that missing material does not surface the next minute, or the one after that. You’re left with a bad choice: to complete the project yourself or face the consequences of a lower grade.
We all know that flaky person who never gets their work done and lets everyone down. If you don’t know anyone unreliable, you’re the flake. Sorry you had to find out this way.
When group work is assigned, the work may be split evenly on paper, but the reality is much different: there’s no benefit for the students who have good work ethics and must compensate for the slackers in the group.
We have experienced this numerous times; we have been the people sitting in front of our computers the night before something is due, and later the ones who have watched everyone in our group receive the same grade for doing very little work.
The key to avoiding this kind of experience is a supposed to be a balanced, healthy group dynamic, preventing the perfectionists and overachievers from having to do everything everything and the rest of the group from feeling controlled and domineered.
However perfect the group dynamic is, though, there will always be students who don’t come through due to both a lack of effort and a busy schedule.
In a classroom situation, no one should ever be forced to work in a group. Students who think they can benefit from it and still earn good grades should be able to work with peers of their choice; regardless of whether the end result is success or failure, their choice is within their control and is an opportunity to learn real responsibility.
According to a survey conducted by Indiana University, only 58% of students said they preferred group work in class. Even fewer said they were satisfied by it.
If teachers do decide to assign group work, they should also grade each student individually so that the grades accurately reflect how much time and effort a student has put forth.
Group work is theoretically assigned to grant students opportunities to learn teamwork skills that can be applied in professional workplaces. Except, in reality, a low performing employee loses their job and will not be able to piggyback off a coworker’s performance. How will low-performing students learn teamwork skills if they’re sitting back and watching the project being done for them?
In fact, these slackers sometimes get lost in the sea of their more productive co-workers: according to a survey done on 1,000 U.S. residents over the age of 18 by the University of Phoenix, more than three-quarters of employees would rather work on their own. 70 percent said they had been part of a dysfunctional group.
While it is important to learn collaborative skills, students learn how to work with each other through sports and other extracurricular activities that stem from their own personal drive.
Of course, a group needs some form of leadership, but that shouldn’t translate to a few people doing the bulk of the work. Students should have the choice to either do projects individually or to do them with people of their choice who will not abandon them. When it comes down to it, whether you’re a leader or a follower, a go-getter or someone who waits in the wings, the choice to contribute to a project’s success, or not, is yours. Pick one.
Please note that we both contributed equally in the writing and production of this article.