“Class, please get into groups for this upcoming assignment.” These are the words I dread the most in classes because, depending on who I receive in my group, they will either make or break my whole assignment, or even my grade.
I know we all have had bad experiences with group projects. Many students despise them because they’re relying on others to put in work for a shared grade. I don’t agree with why professors are so keen on insisting on group assignments. Maybe they believe that college students are mature enough to handle that, or that they’re preparing us for the work environment, but getting people who don’t care to contribute at all sets you back and adds more to your full plate.
Group projects create unnecessary tension because you’re forced to put your trust in people you barely know and hope they know what they’re doing. In those instances where you have no friends in a class, you have to quickly ask the people closest to you and hope for the best.
I’ve been through this so many times; it’s so awkward getting everyone’s contact information and hoping they respond to my group text to meet up in the future. Like, I am just trying to pass, please don’t screw me over.
For example, in my math lecture, we were assigned to do a group research project on argumentative proofs and write an essay on it. It sounded so easy, but of course, my professor snuck in a group project requirement. The roles were a little unbalanced since I had to write and submit the whole thing while the others did the research, but still, I never got why this assignment was a group initiative. Plus, we finished the day of the deadline, which is annoying because I could’ve done that in one day.
What upsets me more is how poor the grading system is when it comes to group projects. If you don’t have an easy-going professor who understands that sometimes things happen out of your control, your whole grade is in jeopardy because one person didn’t do their job.
Why is my grade on the line because someone has no sense of time management? Every day in class, I make sure everyone is up to date with deadlines and I always hear yes, but so many things are missing on the day of the deadline.
I know the group project nightmare is nowhere near ending since I still have a long way to go in college, but I just hope and pray every day that I will never have to do a group project again. Group projects don’t test my knowledge; they test my patience with people.
