This semester I have had more group projects than ever before. By the end of April, I think I will have been involved in at least five major group projects/presentations. And that doesn't count musical performances.
I have been thinking, and have come up with a number of decided pros and cons to working in a group setting for a grade.
Pros:
1. You get to know people in your class.
2. You get to learn ideas from them that you might not have thought of yourself.
Cons:
1. Your grade depends on the work of someone else.
2. If you fail, you damage others as well as yourself.
3. You often assume someone else will do something, when they think you'll do it.
4. Group members sometimes don't care and fail to fulfill their responsibilities, leaving it all up to the few who do care to bear the brunt of the work.
5. Miscommunication often causes project segments to not splice together evenly.
6. Group members often don't agree on content or method.
7. Group members may start to feel either cocky or incompetent, depending on their level of know-how about the subject.
8. Schedules may not line up, making it difficult if not impossible for students to effectively collaborate.
9. Some students may be more quick to get things done than others, leaving the early birds nervous as they wait for the others to get started.
10. It is difficult to know who contributed what, and some students may ride along on the efforts of others and get a good grade despite doing no work.
While there are some definite perks to group projects, the pro-to-con ratio does seem a bit lopsided.
I love being around other people and working with them, but I agree that too many cooks spoil the soup, and sometimes I would rather work alongside others than work on the same thing as them.
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