By Julian Higuera | Reporter
It’s something every student has encountered at least once here: group projects. With finals approaching, most students are preparing for exams or finishing final essays. For an unlucky group, courses assign group projects that, more often than not, must be presented in class.
As a junior, I’ve had to present a project during this time at least once every semester. I haven’t enjoyed a single one. This time is no different. It’s become an annoyance — trying to find a time to meet with the group or divide the workload. I often think I’d prefer to do it alone.
It seems I’m not alone in this opinion. In every group project I’ve done here, my peers have said the same thing. This time around was no different, with the most common phrase being, “Let’s get this over with.”
It’s not something I look forward to when I’m reading a class syllabus, especially when professors leave it buried at the bottom of the page. Even worse, I can’t pick my group, so I end up working with people I’m not familiar with. Since these projects are usually assigned toward the end of the semester, everyone’s energy is already drained.
Then there’s the challenge of fitting enough information into the allotted time. It can’t be too short or too long, so finding the right balance is a constant struggle.
Another common issue is that everyone has a different idea of what is “good enough.” Dividing the workload is one thing, but sometimes a slide completed by someone else doesn’t match the quality of the rest of the project.
The result is often a disjointed presentation made up of different working styles. Luckily, some courses are graded individually, but for the few that aren’t, it becomes a headache.
The worst-case scenario is having a group member who doesn’t pull their weight. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it creates more work for everyone else — especially at the end of the semester.
That’s where peer evaluations come in. Most groups don’t have to worry about poor evaluations unless there are clashing personalities or someone who disappears from the project altogether.
So why do professors assign these projects anyway? The usual answer is that they encourage teamwork or prepare students for the real world, where jobs require collaboration and public presentations.
I think that’s baloney. Sometimes it feels like professors don’t know what else to do at the end of the semester, so they assign a large project to fill the gap before finals — a way to see whether students understand the material under the pressure of presenting.
Most of the time, students don’t pay attention when a group presents. Everyone’s on their devices, shopping online or catching up on another class. Some even save their attendance for the weeks when class consists only of presentations.
I can’t wait to be done with group projects. If I could remove one thing from my coursework, it would be this.
