Group projects in school

group work does suck.

university i never had to work in a group.
when i finished and went to college i had to work in groups all the time. not to sound like a dick, but with much, dummer, younger, i havnt dropped out just yet, students. profs would say you have to work in groups in the real world, and you dont get to choose your co-workers, but atleast you get to choose your group now.

now that im in "the real world" i never work in groups, so i dunno what the fuck they were talking about.

coles notes: group work nearly fucked me 3 years ago and im still bitter.

dumber
the irony is almost palpable

and my groups are in ONLINE classes, so we can't meet in person.  If we could meet in person, we might get something accomplished, but instead we're supposed to complete these huge projects using nothing but forms and chat rooms. It doesn't work!

they're two letters apart bro, typos CAN happen.

i didnt realize posting on newschoolers was like writing my masters thesis. ill have to run spell check more often.

i apologize for any inconvenience this might have cause your Mr. teddyburrrrr

forums*

see, see what you started teddyburrrr?

word. Come on guys-- correcting grammar and spelling in NSG? We're all typing our responses quickly without paying that much attention-- the odds that spelling and grammar errors in NSG have a real correlation with actual intelligence-- I would be willing to bet they aren't very good.

everybody with half a brain hates group projects,but theyre a part of life and help you get used to working with half idiots for the rest of your life. show that youre the alpha thinker and take the reins and get an A for the group. put the team on your back

oh god, i spelt YOU with and R at the end.

i quit life, too many spelling/grammatical fuck ups today.

That is pretty much how this semester is going so far.  One or two group projects I can live with-- I wouldn't have made a thread. I'm taking three classes this semester and every single one is ALL group projects-- nothing but.  I'm beginning to think it's because the professors only want to grade 10 assignments a week, rather than 100.

In all seriousness though, I work in the real world, and not a single group project I've ever had to do has been as frustrating as these school assignments.  At least I see my coworkers face-to-face--and idiots get fired.

I'm trying to graduate Summa Cum Laude and these group projects are making my life a living hell. I'm doing the work of 10 students per class and working full time. ugh!

yeah don't get me wrong, i feel you. it's stressful when youre looking to keep your GPA sick while others in the group would be happy with a B.. but like i said, that's when you have to accept that youre going to do the lion's share and do it right

i feel ya man, i am only in highschool.

Group work seriously sucks, but it is what it is and sometimes you have to just bite the bullet and do it. Last week for one of my classes we got assigned groups to do tree measurements in a forest. The two girls I got assigned to work with immediately apologized to me that I had to work with them. But I took the attitude of "whatever they're nice girls I'll make the best of it," and just took charge of the group and got shit done while joking around with them the whole time and everything worked out fine. Sometimes it is what it is man, you just have to suck it up and push through it and it'll be over soon enough.

Too lazy to read entire thead. But i completely feel ya man! Groups suck.

But I need everyones opinion on something and don't want to make a thread so i feel this is a swell place to put it. 

 I'm a junior in high school, no not a scholar, but still pretty far along in my educational career. But this past week we were assigned a project in my Lit & Comp class. It was a picture collage, and its my opinion that at this age anything that has to do with gluing pictures onto paper and decorating it is just an insult to my intelligence. Anyone else feel the same or am I an idiot.

the first few posts with both black and white icons had me going for a sec... i was confused haha.

unless you are the one doing little work :D

yeah, holy shit. A pic collage when you're 17? A waste of time.

you realize that the vast majority of "work" in the real world is a collaborative venture? (aka YOU WORK WITH PEOPLE)

different.

I understand what you are saying, but that's not actually how it works, and you don't need to be a condescending asshole, I have real world experience.

So should I gather all my coworkers and say "look, we either ALL become CEO, or we ALL get canned, so let's make sure we all do our fair share and help each other out. Don't let anyone fall."

What? No. You're responsible for your own success. Do you work with others? Yeah-- but if they fail, you have the option of succeeding without them.

No man i feel the same way

I hate group work because I end up doing everything.

responded to your lovely pm :)

Sarcasm I'm assuming? But it wasn't a mean PM, so why the need?

group work can be good but not in these kinda situations

I got in a course where it was solely group work for every assignment the entire quarter. I was unfortunately too polite when choosing groups, and was recruited into a group with the only minorities in class (before you say I'm a scumbag for even thinking the group would be worse because it was full of minorities, read the rest of this). I was quite literally the only one who did ANY work in that group. The black kid ended up going to jail, the turkish kid didn't show up after the first couple weeks (and even when he was there, he only showed up intermittently), and the chinese kid didn't speak English (I don't mind you speaking English, just don't sign up for difficult classes where other people can fail because of you). After about a month I was able to transfer on to a more productive group, but I had to do 2 large projects by myself.

Before you ask, yes, I made reasonable effort (daily emails and texts) to stay in contact with the group, and to delegate tasks within the group.

What I learned - fuck being polite when your ass is on the line. There are many times where you have to say fuck political correctness, and even common courtesy, as they can significantly impede progress.

I am glad I was forced to go through that class, as it taught me a great deal about working in a group (I don't think I would have learned as much if I had a good group)

Mean, no. Snarky, yes.

You can say all the bullshit you want about the "real world". University is also the real world. Obviously if your boss tells you to work in a group, you should have no issue doing it. In university you are paying a shit ton of money, and should have full control over your success/failure. Now I have no problem with working in groups, but I am also not a straight A student. I can see how frustrating it would be for a very motivated individual to work with a person like myself.

You should always have the option to work alone. The only time you really should ever have to work in groups is if you are doing a lab or something and have to share equipment. Even then though you should always have the option of submitting your own report.

Yeah, the standards set to graduate are way too low! No wonder our economies in the tank

I hear ya. I'm only in high school, but I've always hated group work... Not to brag, but I consider myself smarter than average and have always been hard working, so I hate it when I get thrown into a group with 3-4 kids who I believe to be below my standards and end up half-assing everything... Instead of dividing the work of the project between 4-5 kids to make the work load easier as the teacher intended, it becomes a burden on me to haul ass to do the project up to a standard I deem acceptable...

hahahahahahaha

this...

I HAVE A LITTLE TALE ABOUT GROUP PROJECTS IN SCHOOL SO I AM GOING TO SHARE IT.

LAST YEAR I WAS TAKING A COURSE IN MIS AT MY LOCAL UNIVERSITY. AT THE START OF THE SEMESTER THE PROF ASKED EVERYONE TO GET INTO GROUPS OF 5. A COUPLE OF MY FRIENDS WERE IN THE CLASS BUT I KNEW THEIR WORK HABITS SO I DECIDED IT WOULD BEST FOR ME TO WORK WITH SOME RANDOM PEOPLE IN THE CLASS. I JOINED A GROUP OF THREE STUDENTS SITTING IN THE FRONT ROW OF THE CLASS HOPING THEY WOULD BE SOMEWHAT INTELLIGENT AND MOTIVATED TO SUCCEED.

EVERY WEEK YOU HAD TO ANSWER A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS ABOUT A CASE YOU READ IN THE LAST HALF AN HOUR OF CLASS. IN ADDITION TO THE CASE QUESTION TWO GROUPS ALSO HAD TO PRESENT THEIR ANSWERS TO THE CASE. DURING THE SECOND WEEK OF CLASS EVERYONE WAS GIVEN THE DATE THEY WOULD PRESENT.


FAST FORWARD TO ABOUT THE SEVENTH WEEK OF CLASS. OUR GROUP WAS PRESENTING IN TWO WEEKS SO WE DECIDED TO MEET ON CAMPUS TO WORK ON THE CASE QUESTIONS. ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF OUR GROUP HAD NOT SHOWN UP SINCE BEFORE THE MIDTERM (~TWO WEEKS AGO) AND THE TEACHER ASSUMED SHE HAD DONE POORLY AND HAD DROPPED THE CLASS. HE ADVISED US TO CONTINUE ON WITHOUT HER.

SO WE MET UP ON THE WEEKEND AND WORKED ON THE QUESTION WITHOUT HER. THE MEETING WENT QUITE POORLY AND I REALIZED I WAS GOING TO HAVE TO PUT THE TEAM ON MY BACK IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A GOOD MARK. WE WORKED FOR A COUPLE HOURS AND EVERYONE DECIDED TO CALL IT QUITS. I TOLD THE GROUP I WOULD TYPE UP A GOOD COPY OF OUR RESPONSES AND SEND THEM TO SOMEONE TO MAKE A POWERPOINT.

FAST FORWARD TO TWO NIGHTS BEFORE THE PRESENTATION. I SPENT THE EVENING SLAVING AWAY BASICALLY COMING UP WITH ALL NEW ANSWERS WITH MY MOTHER BECAUSE ARE ANSWERS WERE SUB PAR TO PUT IT NICELY. SO AFTER A FEW HOURS I FELT FAIRLY CONFIDENT IN ME AND MY MOTHERS WORK SO I SENT IT TO ONE OF OTHER GROUP MEMBERS TO PUT INTO A POWER POINT.

I HAVE NO PROBLEMS DOING ALL THE WORK IN ORDER TO RECEIVE A GOOD MARK BUT THIS IS WHERE THE PROBLEMS STARTED POPPING UP. I INSTRUCTED THE GROUP MEMBER TO SIMPLY PUT THE ANSWERS INTO POINT FORM RESPONSES. WHAT I RECEIVED FROM HIM NEARLY CAUSED ME TO SHOW UP TO CLASS WITH A SAWED OFF SHOTGUN AND EXPLODE HIS BRAIN AGAINST THE CHALK BOARD. THIS DUMB MOTHER FUCKER DECIDED HE WOULD SWITCH ALL MY ANSWERS TO WHAT HE THOUGHT WERE SUPERIOR ANSWERS. THIS 30 YEAR OLD STUDENT HAD THE WRITING SKILLS OF A MIDDLE SCHOOL CHILD AND CLEARLY DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THE CASE OR QUESTIONS WERE ABOUT.

SO IT IS THE NIGHT BEFORE THE PRESENTATION AND I FIND MYSELF SLAVING AWAY AT THE COMPUTER WITH MY MOTHER AGAIN. SO WE TAKE OUR RESPONSES AND PUT THEM INTO A PRESENTATION FORMAT. I DECIDED TO TAKE THE LIBERTY TO PUT WHAT EACH GROUP MEMBER WAS SUPPOSED TO SAY ON CUE CARDS SO THAT ALL THEY HAD TO DO WAS MEMORIZE THEIR LINES DURING THE DAY BEFORE CLASS AT NIGHT. SO I SENT EACH GROUP MEMBER AN EMAIL OF WHAT THEY NEEDED TO PRACTICE. AT THIS POINT I HAVE EASILY PUT CLOSE TO TEN HOURS OF MY TIME WORKING ON THIS BASIC ASSIGNMENT.

I WAKE UP THE NEXT AFTERNOON TO SEE AN EMAIL FROM THE GROUP MEMBER WHO HAD NOT BEEN TO CLASS IN A FEW WEEKS AND WE ASSUMED HAD DROPPED OUT. THE BITCH WAS ASKING WHAT QUESTIONS SHE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR PRESENTING TO THE CLASS. I THOUGHT SHE WAS TROLLING BECAUSE THE DUMB CUNT HAD IGNORED THE PAST 15 EMAILS THE GROUP HAD BEEN SENDING OUT OVER THE PAST TWO WEEKS DISCUSSING THE PRESENTATION. I WAS GRANT FUHRIOUS AT THIS POINT AND DECIDED I WOULD TELL THIS STUNNED CUNT WHAT WAS UP.

IN OUR COURSE OUTLINE IT STATED THAT A STUDENT WHO DID NOT DO THEIR FAIR SHARE OF WORK ON THE CASE QUESTIONS WAS TO RECEIVE A ZERO FOR THE PRESENTATION. EVEN THOUGH THE REST OF THE GROUP DID FUCK ALL AT LEAST THEY ATTEMPTED TO DO THEIR FAIR SHARE, BUT I DID NOT LET THEM, SO THEY ARE NOT TO BE PUNISHED. SO I EMAIL THIS DIPSHIT AND TOLD HER THAT SHE WAS NOT ABLE TO PRESENT SINCE SHE DID NOT HELP US AT ALL WITH THE QUESTIONS. SHE RESPONDS WITH SOME BS ABOUT NOT KNOWING THAT WE HAD WORKED ON IT OR SOME SHENANIGANS THAT BAFFLED ME. I SAID READ THE COURSE OUTLINE AND TAKE IT UP WITH THE PROFESSOR, BUT I AM NOT ALLOWING YOU TO PRESENT WITH US.

SO I SHOW UP TO CLASS THAT EVENING AND GIVE EVERYONE THERE CUE CARDS. SURE ENOUGH THE CUM DUMPSTER IS THERE AND APPROACHES ME ASKING AGAIN IF SHE CAN PRESENT WITH US. I REPEAT THAT SHE SHOULD REREAD THE COURSE OUTLINE AND TAKE IT UP WITH THE PROFESSOR. UNFORTUNATELY THE OTHER TWO SPINELESS PUSSIES THAT I UNFORTUNATELY HAD TO CALL GROUP MEMBERS ALL SEMESTER SAID THAT WE SHOULD ALLOW HER TO PRESENT BECAUSE IT WAS ALL JUST A SIMPLE MISCOMMUNICATION. I WAS FURIOUS BUT AT THE POINT I DID NOT GIVE A SINGLE FUCK SO I SAID DO WHATEVER YOU GUYS WANT AND WENT AND CHILLED WITH MY FRIENDS.

IT IS FINALLY TIME FOR US TO PRESENT. DID I MENTION THAT 3 MEMBERS OF THE GROUP DID NOT HAVE ENGLISH AS THEIR FIRST LANGUAGE? SO OF COURSE THE GIRL THAT JUST THE GROUP LET PRESENT LAST SECOND DID AN AWFUL JOB PRESENTING AND THE REST OF THE GROUP DID NOT DO MUCH BETTER ALTHOUGH THEY DID TRY THEIR BEST.

WE ENDED UP GETTING A 60% ON THE PRESENTATION WHICH REALLY HURT MY GRADE AVERAGE IN THE COURSE. I FINISHED THE COURSE WITH A B+ AND WOULD HAVE AN A- IF IT WAS NOT FOR THE GROUP ASSIGNMENT. FUCK GROUP WORK IN UNIVERSITY. TUITION IS WAY TOO EXPENSIVE TO HAVE LAZY, UNEDUCATED, ESL STUDENTS FUCK UP YOUR GPA.

IF YOU READ ALL THAT I AM IMPRESSED. I APOLOGIZE FOR MY POOR SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. I DID NOT PROOF READ IT SO IT MOST LIKELY DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.

CHEERS

read it all. basically in the same situation this semester. Just did our entire paper for my group. Everyone had their own section to do-- but their's were terrible so I basically re-wrote them. Ended up with a 48/50 though-- so my work was worth it. Still pisses me off though.

You story sucks-- I feel for you.

and btw, i just tried to read your story aloud to my significant other who is chillin' with me right now-- but reading it out loud was unbearably hysterical, I could not stop laughing.

I can't even start to express how much I hate group work. For SOME classes and I mean like 1% of classes, group work makes sense, but the rest of the time its fucking bullshit. The worst is IN CLASS GROUP WORK its literally an excuse for the prof to waste time in class instead of lecture. It doesn't help students learn anything, its fucking bullshit.


I could tell story on story of stupid bullshit groupwork ive had to do in the past, but ill save time and just tell the worst. I had to do a 6 page article about some kind of public figure, in a group of 5 people. HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSE TO WORK ON A 6 PAGE PAPER WITH 5 PEOPLE? ONE PERSON IS GONNA END UP WRITING IT AND THE REST ARE GONNA "HELP" SO WHATS THE FUCKING POINT?


God I hate group projects. The only time it actually works is in marketing, because in real life you do work in groups to create case studies and shit, but even that one person ends up doing 75% of the work, its fucking bullshit.

I feel this way every week when my government teacher pulls out the scissors and glue.

well said. This is exactly how I feel.

thats just cause everyone in your groups made fun of you and called you e-walrus.

....are as gay as aids! my grade should not suffer bc some asshole would rather watch maury then come to class and help out with a GROUP project. any teacher that thinks its a good idea to require group work should go fuck themselves and refund my tuition.