Group Projects

Today was the last day before finals week at my college.  In many of our classes our students are submitting a final project; some of these final projects are group projects.  In many academic fields we prepare our students to work as productive team members.  This preparation aligns with the expectation the industry has regarding teamwork.  However, teamwork is not something that is magically possessed by our students; it must be learned.

Today one of my students met with me outside of class to express concerns for the overall quality of the team's final project.  This student felt frustrated by the lack of quality effort put forth by one of the team members and was concerned about the impact this project would have on the final grade.  While part of the grade is based on peer feedback, a poor quality project deliverable negatively affects all team members.

Assigning team projects can be both beneficial and frustrating to our students.  The students are dependent upon equal concern for quality of work and are often disappointed by the lack of effort or imbalance of work by the team members.  We must remember that these projects are evaluating the performance of a team and, while the individuals students may put forth a good effort, it is the ability to work as a team that is measured.  The students must be able to work together to collaborate on the project rather than divide up the work and work individually (does this sound familiar?).

While I can express the need for teamwork and articulate how teamwork over individual efforts are measured for these team projects, the students must still be taught how to work as a team.  Our department relies on team projects but we do not have a concerted effort to teach students on how to do so.  I need to begin incorporating the teamwork concepts in my courses so students may better understand how to operate as a team.