We’ve all seen the alarming pie charts representing wasted time, frustration, lost faith in humanity and a sliver of productivity. Yes, I’m talking about group projects.
Group projects sound good in theory. Students can work together, learn from each other and practice good social skills like communication and problem solving. But in my experience, group projects are more hassle than they are worth. If working in teams is so important, why are group projects so product-focused, rather than process-focused? By product-focused I mean the focus is the result of the group work (the required paper or presentation) and not the process or interactions along the way. Product focus does not show if all group members participated equally. So what is the goal again? To produce a nice product or to learn how to interact? In my college group projects, students are thrown into groups without any preparation or tools for teamwork. It’s sink or swim, and I have a sinking feeling when I know I’m about to be placed in another group project. In our individual culture, where everyone sits looking at his or her phone with earbuds in, it’s hard to start a conversation. In the classroom, we are discouraged from talking with our peers in favor of listening to a lecture until it’s time to work in groups. Flipping the switch from silently listening to talking with others can feel awkward.
Group members fear their partners will slack off because it’s a group grade. This slacking off is known as “social loafing” according to Chris Lam in his academic article “The Role of Communication and Cohesion in Reducing Social Loafing in Group Projects.” An effective learning tool should truly involve all students, not make one student do all the work.
A further problem is students anticipate the social loafing of their peers which decreases students’ motivation and work in what is known as the “sucker effect,” Lam explains. Students need to be on guard against the “sucker effect,” so they don’t spiral down to the lowest level of productivity.
Plus, meeting outside of class time is very difficult. Each student has a unique academic schedule, to say nothing of their work and social lives. Some students commute, while others live in dorms or off-campus housing.
My goal is not to abolish group projects. But I would like to see teachers be more mindful when they set up group projects. Aggarwal and O’Brian have studied social loafing and explain of how to reduce it in their article “Social Loafing on Group Projects: Structural Antecedents and Effect on Student Satisfaction.” They recommend assigning smaller groups, smaller projects and peer evaluations to reduce social loafing, while there was no difference between student-assigned and teacher-assigned groups. Related to the peer evaluations, students should have a portion of their group project grade individualized. In some situations, educators should use a different learning tool instead of group projects.
