Together or alone

Whether in groups or by themselves, students are faced with daily projects.If they are working in groups, most times students are assessed on the outcome of the entire group. Here it is shown that for there to be a fair grade on the working party, they need to be graded on individual work instead of the result as a whole.

As students, we are faced with many assignment. One might think that working in a group in order to complete a project would be helpful, however that is rarely true. In order to make group projects effective changes need to be made.

When assigning group projects, teachers need to take a closer look at how the work is divided and grade individuals on the work that they contribute. By doing this, the teacher will be able to give the grade that each student deserves.
Group projects are a necessity in a student’s learning process. Group projects help one learn how to work with others, while also teaching one how to respect other’s ideas.

Yet, it is not fair for teachers to assign and grade a group project as a whole without closely examining what was contributed.

If group projects were to be carried out with group members having equal say and work they’d have more potential than one working alone. On the other hand group projects are rarely equal.

In group projects there are many positive and negative aspects. For example, when there are more people working together, more ideas are thrown out, thus giving the group the opportunity to view their situation from many different angles. However, these different ideas can cause conflict between the members of the group.

Another problem that arises with group projects is the separation of work. In a perfect scenario the work would be divided evenly between the group members. When the work is evenly divided each member would have less stress and be able to contribute a better portion of work to the project. Also, the grade for the project as a whole would represent each individual’s contributions.

Yet that’s rarely the case. What usually happens is that one member of the group will overpower the others of the group. This member will end up doing a majority of the work. Having an overpowering leader allows the other group members to slack off. It is also possible that members of the group will purposefully not participate, leaving the project in the hands of the willing member. In both cases, the individual are able to receive a good grade with doing little work.

In order to make group projects effective, teachers need to more closely examine which students are putting in effort and which students are not. With this, students will receive the grade they deserve.