Essay on Disadvantages of Group Projects in High School
High School students are capable of so many remarkable things. Most can determine all their life goals before turning eighteen. Each student around the globe is individually accountable for everyday things such as driving to school or keeping up with homework. They go throughout their day taking notes and studying, but when a teacher forces them to participate in a group project with other students, their sense of individuality is gone. They not only have to keep up with themselves, but their group as well. There are several disadvantages to Group Projects. Some students may enjoy them because they get to sit and commerce with their friends, but there are a lot more disadvantages than some might think. One example of this is having to keep up with your peers.
Because you’re batched together with other students, there is always a risk of procrastination. If students get paired up with people that they chat with on a regular basis, then they are more likely to get off topic regarding the assignment. Not only that, but you could have the complete opposite problem. There is always that one student that does not do any work, and when you put that person in a group, it is highly likely that he or she will not put in more effort than they do on a regular basis. This not only causes problems for themselves, but it could mess with the other students as well. It is also likely that the student who procrastinates will make the same grade as everyone else within that group. This is completely unfair, but it gets worse.
If a teacher can’t notice when students are not doing any work, then it is possible that improper assignments could be given. Without proper instructions students can be misled by their teachers or other students. One of my closest friends, Leah, participated in a group project for our Spanish class last year. We were instructed to create a slideshow that we would present to the class. Within her squad of kids, I noticed that she was the least talkative out of all of them. She confessed later that, “It is awfully difficult when we have to distribute work evenly,” she said, “Some students work more than others, I don’t want to seem like a know-it-all, so I just agree with what everyone else says to maybe get a good grade.”
This reminded me of an issue that I have myself. I unknowingly tend to take over all the work within my group because I can get so paranoid about getting something wrong that I’ll end up doing the whole thing myself, regardless of my other group-members' feedback or work. I don’t know if that was the case with Leah’s group, but it was just a reminder that you can’t always pin-point the problematic one within a group. Sometimes students just can’t help it. They may have a certain disability that makes it harder for them to work with others. Certain students may also not be able to provide materials for an arts and crafts project, or they don’t have a way to communicate with their group members if a project takes more than a day to complete.
Long term projects can be a struggle for poor students because it is likely that they do not have a cellular device to reach out to other students. One of my closest friends, Ashlyn, told me that one of her biggest pet-peeves was, “being paired with the weird kids,” regarding group projects and assignments. She began her rant, “I try so hard to be nice to them, but they don’t listen to a word I have to say, then not even a whole minute later, I’ll catch them talking to each other, but not me. It’s totally unfair,” She goes on to say that she eventually ends up doing all the work without any help, which it totally understandable. However, I wish she would have tried a little harder with them. Even if they were weird to her, students vary in their intelligence and diligence. I wish she had found a way to work the assignment out with them.
Certain students work differently. And just like Ashlyn, some have certain work ethics, so if you have two students in the same group with distinctive styles, then the final presentation may end up a complete and total mess. There may be one student that likes the creative side to projects, while another would prefer to do nothing but research. Work ethics can easily be organized, but if a student can’t work well with the others in their group, then it can only lead to disaster. It’s especially intimidating when you have a group project with a set of students that you don’t normally talk to.
It’s one thing to feel awkward around new people but imagine feeling that tension every single day. This is the hard truth in some cases, as a lot of college kids struggle with social anxiety. Within this population of people, it can be difficult to obtain the collaborative skills needed to work in a group of people. The student may be perceived as a slacker by other students, but in reality, the stress that they feel is what’s causing them to slack in their work. This is because anxiety can cause stress, which affects a student’s ability to work.
It’s easy to understand why teachers assign large amounts of group work. General class discussions can usually be awkward. Group projects can be even more troublesome tough. They cause a lot of social issues and can be completely distracting for students, instead, I think teachers should try to assign individual assignments for their class. This makes it easier for the student’s given work to be more adequate and original. Not only that, but it gives the students a chance to learn the material for themselves instead of relying on others to do the work for them. Although commencing discussion with your peers is important, it’s better for everyone to be responsible for their own work and learn a means of individuality. We are all individually accountable for the things we learn and the way we learn them, so let’s start by eliminating group projects.
