So a recent incident with a school assignment, has left me pondering group work. Here, at CSUMB, there are many assignments that call for group work. Assignments where you are either placed in groups or you choose your group partners. This dependency on other people makes me cringe. I understand the importance of being able to work well with others and in "the real world" there are many times when group work is necessary. I get it! I have found it extremely frustrating when I am partnered with someone who does not have the same work ethic that I do, or just doesn't work at all. I respect the teachers who understand there are students out there just waiting for a group project so they can sit back, let others do the work and get the grade. Those teachers provide group member evaluations :)
Group work is not just frustrating because of the free riders (those who don't work but get the grade), but say we all get lucky and get put into a group with hard workers, A+ students, it is almost impossible to schedule a time when everyone can meet outside of class. My grade should not be dependent on someone else and someone else's grade should not be dependent on me.
Again, don't get me wrong, I know the reason teachers do group work, sometimes, like in my Free Speech and Responsibility class, there is a good reason for group work, discussion. To hear other perspectives, to learn to problem solve, to learn to collaborate, to learn to work well with others, etc. Sometimes group work is good. Other times, just let us do the work on our own! Give us a choice at least.
Thanks for letting me vent, how do you feel about group work??
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hello! It's Alyssa from your seminar. I have to agree with you on the group work thing. Working on actual assignment together, especially a big one is so tedious. I'm sure many people here would agree but its too bad for us that that is CSUMB's "thing to do." With our crazy schedules, its hard for everyone to meet at an inconvenient time. I also agree with the group partner evaluations. They should be included in every class that does group work so the professor is aware of whether or not everyone is equally participating. See you in class!
ReplyDeleteAlyssa
FUCK GROUP WORK! This is fucking bullshit. Yeah when we are in a job setting where all we have to worry about it the project at hand, guess what we will all do group work and get our shit done. However when a student is trying to juggle like 20 units, work 15 hours a week, it is a little hard to make time for the group. Don't teachers know that most of this group work gets done alone through emails and then just thrown together at the last minute to make it look as if the group members cooperated all along....FUCKIN EH!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your statement, sometimes group work can be much stressful than working by your self. Working as a group means that the work is divided and that everyone is working to complete that project, but many times is not like that. When I have work in groups, many times my partner’s backup and at the end I end up doing all the work. Doing the work it’s not a problem, the problem and what makes me frustrated it’s that those that didn’t contributed anything to the group end up having the same grade. Many times I commit my self to do all the work because I want to get a good grade, but I also expect help from all my classmates, and many times that never happens. I personally get much knowledge when I work by my self than when I work in groups.
ReplyDeleteI hear ya girl! I do not like group work very much. Although we are communications major we need to be able to work well with others, and all different types of people. I can understand how it gets annoying though, very much so. Especially when it is nearing time for the project to be complete and no one wants to pull their own weight. You don't want to get a bad grade because of some bad apples in the bunch. It is very nice when there is an option to work solor or be in a group! I think CSUMB would better from knowing that group work maybe isn't the exact route to go on!
ReplyDelete