I am sure I speak for many university students when I say I hate group projects. I know there are benefits to working in groups like learning to plan, organize time and collaborate with peers. But, at the end of the day, no group degrees are being handed out. When I graduate, it will be my degree or your degree, not our degree.
Almost every group project I have been in has had at least one slacker — someone who volunteers to take on a number of tasks, seems enthusiastic in person and gives the impression that they are ready to put in the work. Then, as deadlines roll around, their grandmother’s uncle’s wife’s dog’s sister-in-law is sick, and they just cannot find five additional sources on infectious diseases.
Usually, the first excuse is well excusable, and the slacker promises to have the work done before the group-imposed deadline. Then, a day before the official deadline, the slacker has yet to submit their part. The rest of the team tries to call and text but to no avail. So, to compensate, the other group members are forced to pick up the remaining workload in the slacker’s absence, fearing the impending doom of an F. If this last-ditch effort is somehow successful and the group gets a passing grade, the slacker often miraculously reappears and enjoys the fruits of everyone else’s labour.
If you do not think this is outrageously unfair, you might just be the slacker.
I personally do not mind having to work a bit harder on a project if a groupmate genuinely has something preventing them from fully committing themselves, but if a person is not completing the work solely by choice, they should receive a grade that reflects that. And if someone works really hard, their grade should reflect that too.
The thing with group projects is that there is no telling how they will go. Sometimes a few people will put in effort, but that effort will go unnoticed because those that do not will bring down the grade or vice versa.
I prefer being entirely in control of the work I present. Not because I think I am the most intelligent in class, or the most hardworking, but because I know that if I pass or fail, I will be the only one responsible.
