This was formerly Writing Log 3.1. You do not have to blog about this idea; however, we should use this space as a place to air our grievances and anxieties about working in groups.
Kat
Monday, October 27, 2008
But I Hate Group Work!
Most students hate group work. Almost everyone dreads it, yet teachers continue to assign it. Write an informal blog in which you explore your feelings about group work. Think about why you like or dislike it. Reflect upon a collaborative writing task that you have completed int he past. Why do you think that particular rhetorical situation called for collaborative writing? How did your group work together? How did you organize and divide the work? What role or roles did you play within the larger group dynamic? What was the result and how would you have done it differently? Lastly, why do you think some projects call for collaboration and others are better completed alone?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I always remember the group project I was assigned to in 6th grade math. I was doing pretty well in the class, and my teacher paired me with two kids who pretty much had no interest in being in the class whatsoever. She told me she thought I would be a "good influence" on them, but it just ended with me being really frustrated and doing it myself because they would just sit around and joke and not even attempt to contribute to the project.
From then on, I was very skeptical about group work. But last year, I started collaborating with a couple of my friends in my project based course devoted to Hamlet, and we actually cranked out about 5 pretty awesome films by the end of the year for various open-ended projects for the class, which I had a blast making.
I think the difference between the two polar experiences is that I already had a solid relationship with the second group, and we had established that everyone would pull their own weight and collaborate to work creatively and productively.
You can't just hope one person will be able to inspire the rest, because that usually ends badly. I guess you can't expect to always work with your best friends either, but you have to be able to form some sort of trust between you and your partners over the course of the project, I think.
Yeah, I hate group work.
I find that many times the goal of the group is far too ambitious to complete within the time constraints of the assignment. I always want the projects to be as cool as possible, but you have to know what can or cannot be done. Often if you even try to mention this you are labeled the downer or someone who does not want to work as much.
Also, I feel that the ability evenly distribute group work is impossible. Someone always gets screwed. Especially when the assignment calls for a paper to be written by all of the individuals as a joint effort.
No offense to this project, but it's an unrealistic request. It would make more sense if each member did a reflection paper from 1 to 2 pages, rather than having the paper be done last minute by one member who was too nice to refuse doing the entire work.
What it comes down to is reliability. In my experience with group work I have found it to be nearly impossible to get a group where everyone is willing to put in equal amounts of effort. Why? For some, grades just don't mean that much. Plus, knowing grades are more important to another member of the team lets the slackers know their weight will be carried and all will work out just fine in the end.
it's safe to say, I really hate group work.
These are both excellent comments. I hope that your experiences with group work are better in this class than in others. I would say that as for your fears about even distribution of work, that is what the proposal is for. In the proposal make clear outlines and expectations. Hold each other accountable. Make it happen right for the very first time you meet.
It really depends on the type of project/assignment. Sometimes i can't stand it. For example, when you get stuck with a lazy person and you end up having to do all the work and then you get a great grade and they get the same grade as you or you fail because you couldnt finish it in time because the other person didnt help! (that was me venting....)
There has been sometimes that i love group work. If the entire group pulls their weight and works well together it can be very beneficial. Everyone brings new ideas to the table and it makes your end result that much better. It has always helped me in the past to find out exactly what my role is in the group; i might be the leader or i might just have to listen and organize. I think it is important to be conscious of everyone's role in the group and your own.
I also think it really depends on the project,
I usually dont like group work because I like being in control of what im doing. Not that I am a control freak or anything but it is easier to rely on yourself rather than others because you never know who will or who won't contribute. I also don't like the fact that sometimes it doesn't look like it all comes together or that you can tell it in fact comes from a bunch of different people. I think what makes a project good is if it looks all put together and it continues to have the same consistency throughout the project. I think if it comes to your group and you have a group that you feel comfortable with and you can trust to do the work it actually can come together and look as well as your individual efforts would look.
I think the only way that group work can really be effective is if they're in-class groups. Like, if a group is expected to meet and work together outside of class, its harder to get students together. In, instead, they're given a chance to work their project our together in class (or over a period of classes), and then do individual homework out of class before putting the project together.
I think, like Jenell said, that teachers in elementary/middle/high school will have group work in order to get a "good influence" student to bring other members out to contribute. That's asking a lot of a kid to do, especially if the others are vehement about not doing any work. During senior year, my sister was in my Civics class with me, so when we had to pair off or whatever, I worked with her most of the time because it was easier. We didn't have to bother each other about getting stuff done. I did have one group project without her that went really well though, but it definitely depends on who you're with and maybe how well you all get along.
My freshman year of high school, I was in Geometry and my teacher made us do a group project in which we made posters to explain how various theorems worked (it was a stupid assignment, really). I got put into a group with two other girls: a girl who always sat in the back of the class and never spoke to anybody and who I assumed was kind of weird, and another girl who was always putting her two cents in in class and who seemed to be on the teacher's good side. I was really happy about the latter, not so much about the former.
However, when the project was in motion, I found that the girl who was always quiet was a lot more willing to compromise on things, and was really helpful while the girl who was always really outgoing and fun proved to be kind of a flaky partner and was a lot more show than actual work.
I guess what I learned is that you really never know who is going to be a good person to work with and you should probably give somebody the benefit of the doubt. This probably sounds really preachy but it really did work out for me! Lesson learned, definitely.
-Cady
Post a Comment