By Macie Riffe, News and Features Editor
Although many professors require group work in college, it often elicits groans and eye rolls from students throughout the classroom. Teachers believe that group work will foster collaboration, enhance communication skills and promote diverse perspectives, but group work often creates annoyance and frustration instead.
Group work during class time has many problems, but the serious problems begin with group work assigned outside of class. Between classes, sports, clubs, extracurricular activities and jobs, finding a meeting time that works for a whole group to meet is nearly impossible. By the time students are able to agree on a suitable time, the project deadline is often coming at light speed.
However, freeloading presents an even bigger issue with group work. Every group seems to have at least one member who does not care about the group or the project at hand, allowing others to do the work for them. Whether this student lacks motivation, hates the class or simply feels like they are too busy to contribute does not really matter: all situations are equally frustrating.
Perhaps the reason that I feel so strongly against group work is that I am often the one who does most of the work. I will admit that this is not always because of my group members. Sometimes, I step in to lead the group due to my own perfectionistic personality. If members of my group are quiet and do not express their desired role, I will often just take on their role as extra work. I would rather do all the work myself to get a good grade than let everyone do their fair share and not succeed on the project.
At the end of the day, professors should just make group assignments solo assignments if there is a chance that one person will conduct the entire project on their own. Work done by a single student is more indicative of a student’s understanding of the course material.
Junior Bethani Stanfield said, “Group work is hard because professors think it will help you learn the content better, but it only makes it worse. If I am only expected to do half of the work, I am only going to know half of the content.”
Although professors claim that group work fosters all of the lovely skills that only come from working with your peers, I think that many of these skills are lost in practice. Personally, if I am annoyed with my group, I do not want to communicate with them, spend time with them outside of class or even listen to their perspectives.
There are better ways than group work to learn communication skills that prepare students for the real world. Participating in clubs with a shared interest and easy communication flow is much better than randomly grouping students together in a class that they are only taking to fulfill a requirement.
Although group work is unavoidable in the real world, it is not necessary while in college. Individual assignments work much better for most students.
Categories: Opinion
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