You read in your syllabus “…and you’ll be working in groups to meet this competency…” Oh no! Group work! I’d rather eat a bug every day for the rest of my life than do group work! Why, why, why do professors insist on group activities? “Because it’s important, it’s good for you, it helps you develop skills you’ll need in your professional life,” they say, “And you won’t always be able to hand pick your group!” Is this all true? Or is this an urban legend? Why do students (of all ages) hate group work so much?
The highly esteemed Maryellen Weimer hypothesizes there are three reasons why students loathe group work. First, students “don’t always learn well in social contexts” (para. 2). Second, Weimer states faculty use faulty design in evaluating group performance, where everyone in the group gets the same grade. This practice enrages the over-producers and inappropriately rewards the under-producers. Last, Weimer introduces the idea of individual group member vulnerability. She explains that there should be a role for everyone in the group, not just the leader.
I can share a personal example of Weimer’s reason number two that occurred recently in my professional life. When a student fails a course, they can appeal the decision to the Vice Chair for Education, which for courses in my department means me. A young man appealed his failing grade by stating that he did the bulk of his group’s work on a set of cases that were due, while his non-participatory group-mates used that time to study for an upcoming exam. He only failed the course by a few points, and he was beside himself that had he done better on the exam, he too would have passed the course. All his group-mates received the same grade as he for the cases submitted, but they all did better on the exam than he, and they all passed the course. Unfortunately the cases were only worth 5% of the course grade, but the exam was worth 30%. He was asking for a few bonus points so he would also pass the course thanks to his “taking a bullet” for the team with the cases. Unfortunately I could not grant his request, and I suggested that in the future he too carefully evaluate where his efforts would be best spent. Even more unfortunately, despite doing the lion’s share of the work on the cases, he/they didn’t score very well on that either. Had he spent more time on the exam he may have actually passed the course.
As faculty members, can we use strategies to make for more successful groups? Perhaps letting learners self-select their groups. I’ve worked in groups from elementary school to the present with varying degrees of success. I’ve been in groups where I wanted to poke out both my eyeballs, and I’ve been in groups (mostly where I invited group members) that produced magical, magnificent synergistic work. Can we use a systematic method for assigning groups however to similarly achieve positive outcomes?
Byrnes & Byrnes suggest one strategy that they’ve found quite helpful (2009, para. 4). At the beginning of each class they ask each student to respond to the following question:
“Thing about your experience working in groups. Please select the one response that best suits your experience:
1. I enjoy working in groups because my group members help me understand the material and tasks and therefore I can perform better.
2. I question the value of group work for me, because I usually end up doing more than my fair share of the work.
3. I have little or no experience working in groups.
4. I have a different experience than the choices given above. Please describe.”
The authors call those who selected response number 2 “lone wolves” and put all the lone wolves in a group together. They claim the results are fairly magical because they are all high-flyers who are “equally driven and equally intelligent” (para 6).
So what’s my take on group work? If I have the latitude, I pick my own groupies. If I don’t, I try to work with the group to determine the strengths of each group member and play to those strengths. If, despite this, we still don’t have a smooth working relationship, I just do my best to be a team player and continually ask myself “Do I want to die on this hill?” Do I want to fight to the death over every single point? Is “good enough” (in my opinion) sometimes “good enough?” Do I want to sacrifice time I could spend on that paper worth 30% of my grade to get my way on a 5% weight project? Disharmony comes at a great price; taking the high road is generally the better bet!
Byrnes, J., & Byrnes, M. (2006, May 26). Dealing with students who hate working in groups. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-classroom-management-dealing-with-students-who-hate-working-in-groups/
Weimer, M. (2008, July 1). Why students hate groups. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/eaching-and-learning-why-students-hate-groups/
The highly esteemed Maryellen Weimer hypothesizes there are three reasons why students loathe group work. First, students “don’t always learn well in social contexts” (para. 2). Second, Weimer states faculty use faulty design in evaluating group performance, where everyone in the group gets the same grade. This practice enrages the over-producers and inappropriately rewards the under-producers. Last, Weimer introduces the idea of individual group member vulnerability. She explains that there should be a role for everyone in the group, not just the leader.
I can share a personal example of Weimer’s reason number two that occurred recently in my professional life. When a student fails a course, they can appeal the decision to the Vice Chair for Education, which for courses in my department means me. A young man appealed his failing grade by stating that he did the bulk of his group’s work on a set of cases that were due, while his non-participatory group-mates used that time to study for an upcoming exam. He only failed the course by a few points, and he was beside himself that had he done better on the exam, he too would have passed the course. All his group-mates received the same grade as he for the cases submitted, but they all did better on the exam than he, and they all passed the course. Unfortunately the cases were only worth 5% of the course grade, but the exam was worth 30%. He was asking for a few bonus points so he would also pass the course thanks to his “taking a bullet” for the team with the cases. Unfortunately I could not grant his request, and I suggested that in the future he too carefully evaluate where his efforts would be best spent. Even more unfortunately, despite doing the lion’s share of the work on the cases, he/they didn’t score very well on that either. Had he spent more time on the exam he may have actually passed the course.
As faculty members, can we use strategies to make for more successful groups? Perhaps letting learners self-select their groups. I’ve worked in groups from elementary school to the present with varying degrees of success. I’ve been in groups where I wanted to poke out both my eyeballs, and I’ve been in groups (mostly where I invited group members) that produced magical, magnificent synergistic work. Can we use a systematic method for assigning groups however to similarly achieve positive outcomes?
Byrnes & Byrnes suggest one strategy that they’ve found quite helpful (2009, para. 4). At the beginning of each class they ask each student to respond to the following question:
“Thing about your experience working in groups. Please select the one response that best suits your experience:
1. I enjoy working in groups because my group members help me understand the material and tasks and therefore I can perform better.
2. I question the value of group work for me, because I usually end up doing more than my fair share of the work.
3. I have little or no experience working in groups.
4. I have a different experience than the choices given above. Please describe.”
The authors call those who selected response number 2 “lone wolves” and put all the lone wolves in a group together. They claim the results are fairly magical because they are all high-flyers who are “equally driven and equally intelligent” (para 6).
So what’s my take on group work? If I have the latitude, I pick my own groupies. If I don’t, I try to work with the group to determine the strengths of each group member and play to those strengths. If, despite this, we still don’t have a smooth working relationship, I just do my best to be a team player and continually ask myself “Do I want to die on this hill?” Do I want to fight to the death over every single point? Is “good enough” (in my opinion) sometimes “good enough?” Do I want to sacrifice time I could spend on that paper worth 30% of my grade to get my way on a 5% weight project? Disharmony comes at a great price; taking the high road is generally the better bet!
Byrnes, J., & Byrnes, M. (2006, May 26). Dealing with students who hate working in groups. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/effective-classroom-management-dealing-with-students-who-hate-working-in-groups/
Weimer, M. (2008, July 1). Why students hate groups. Retrieved March 14, 2015, from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/eaching-and-learning-why-students-hate-groups/
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