Why Are Group Projects a Thing?

🍁 Aria 🔮 · November 01, 2015, 10:27:53 PM

Absolutely everybody despises them. Why the fuck would any right-minded professor fuck with this horseshit? That or mandatory peer review; as I'm making this thread, I have a paper due in 24 hours and not a single fucking member of my group has shown me their paper nor has anyone reviewed mine. I'm going to be real fuckin' pissed if I get docked points because these assbags didn't give enough of a god damn to post a rough draft.

TB · November 01, 2015, 10:30:16 PM

When group projects are graded it shouldn't be on the group as a a whole... which makes group projects useless....
It's stupid.

Kiwicake · November 01, 2015, 10:33:37 PM

I had to do group projects in my engineering courses since it was all about learning to work as a team since that's apparently what ENGINEERS DO

My team was actually pretty good though so I was ok with that, I also waited until that part was done to drop out because I didn't want to let them all down

Verbatim · November 01, 2015, 10:35:08 PM

Yeahhhhh, I feel you.

They're supposed to promote teamwork and build friendships and all that other bullshit, but what professors don't seem to realize is that you can't force two or three or four people to work together--which is why people should be given the choice to work alone if they so choose.

Fuck peer reviews--I'm the only person in the universe who actually puts any effort into editing my fellow students' papers, it seems. People don't even leave comments, because no one gives a fuck. Useless.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · November 01, 2015, 10:35:30 PM

Quote from: TBlocks on November 01, 2015, 10:30:16 PM

When group projects are graded it shouldn't be on the group as a a whole... which makes group projects useless....
It's stupid.

I'm going to have to take a communications class next year. Four or so group projects that involve filming a piece plus an in-person presentation on which the entire group is graded as a whole.

I might just kill myself after Christmas, just to be safe.

TB · November 01, 2015, 10:37:44 PM

Quote from: Prime Megaten on November 01, 2015, 10:35:30 PM

Quote from: TBlocks on November 01, 2015, 10:30:16 PM
When group projects are graded it shouldn't be on the group as a a whole... which makes group projects useless....
It's stupid.
I'm going to have to take a communications class next year. Four or so group projects that involve filming a piece plus an in-person presentation on which the entire group is graded as a whole.

I might just kill myself after Christmas, just to be safe.

Oh god damn.
Actually if you have decent people presenting with you I find they make it easier.
But for work outside of that. Yea... screw that.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · November 01, 2015, 10:37:54 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on November 01, 2015, 10:35:08 PM

Yeahhhhh, I feel you.

They're supposed to promote teamwork and build friendships and all that other bullshit, but what professors don't seem to realize is that you can't force two or three or four people to work together--which is why people should be given the choice to work alone if they so choose.

It's one of the reasons why I chose to switch my major to PolSci. My history and polsci teachers have their shit straight; no group projects, no three-page essay exams in-class, very little online fuckery. If I have to spent the next three years on a degree, I'd prefer one that cuts out all the bullshit.

Ingy · November 01, 2015, 10:38:03 PM

I like them
If it's a good group
Work is easier and you get to interact with others

If it's a shit group, that's another story
When I transferred into my chemistry class in the middle of the year, I was placed in a group for a semester long project
You know the people in class who don't do anything but always come together in a group anyways?
Yeah I got placed in with those people

So I find out they haven't done anything
And the one girl who was actually good was allowed to break off from the group because she was the only one doing work

In the end, I did the interview, video, and paper by myself and turned it in at 3 AM when it was due 11:59 PM

Fuck my shit dawg

🍁 Aria 🔮 · November 01, 2015, 10:39:59 PM

Quote from: TBlocks on November 01, 2015, 10:37:44 PM

Oh god damn.
Actually if you have decent people presenting with you I find they make it easier.
But for work outside of that. Yea... screw that.

One of my friends had the class this semester; in the last project, one group member (assigned, not chosen, by the way) didn't pay attention to the script and ended up stealing two other members' parts.

Guess who didn't get a good grade on the presentation?

TB · November 01, 2015, 10:42:50 PM

Quote from: Prime Megaten on November 01, 2015, 10:39:59 PM

Quote from: TBlocks on November 01, 2015, 10:37:44 PM
Oh god damn.
Actually if you have decent people presenting with you I find they make it easier.
But for work outside of that. Yea... screw that.
One of my friends had the class this semester; in the last project, one group member (assigned, not chosen, by the way) didn't pay attention to the script and ended up stealing two other members' parts.

Guess who didn't get a good grade on the presentation?

Wow....
Actually terrible...

🍁 Aria 🔮 · November 01, 2015, 10:44:35 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on November 01, 2015, 10:35:08 PM

Yeahhhhh, I feel you.

They're supposed to promote teamwork and build friendships and all that other bullshit, but what professors don't seem to realize is that you can't force two or three or four people to work together--which is why people should be given the choice to work alone if they so choose.

Fuck peer reviews--I'm the only person in the universe who actually puts any effort into editing my fellow students' papers, it seems. People don't even leave comments, because no one gives a fuck. Useless.

And when they do put effort into it, they have no idea what the fuck they are talking about. A quarter of the annotations are just fucking wrong ("you have a fragment here!" when it's grammatically correct), two-thirds are just unnecessary praise ("Oh, I really liked that sentence!"), and then that last ~0.08% is a silly error you would have caught when you went over it yourself before submitting it.

maverick · November 01, 2015, 10:44:46 PM

I had to be a part of a group paper. Sounds weird but it actually went really well.

🍁 Aria 🔮 · November 01, 2015, 10:47:38 PM

Quote from: Maverick on November 01, 2015, 10:44:46 PM

I had to be a part of a group paper. Sounds weird but it actually went really well.

Group things are cool if they are graded individually and everyone does their part. I just think that it's too likely that, if you're assigned to a group with five other people, at least one person is going to try to literally do nothing but put their name on it.

maverick · November 01, 2015, 10:52:09 PM

Quote from: Prime Megaten on November 01, 2015, 10:47:38 PM

Quote from: Maverick on November 01, 2015, 10:44:46 PM
I had to be a part of a group paper. Sounds weird but it actually went really well.
Group things are cool if they are graded individually and everyone does their part. I just think that it's too likely that, if you're assigned to a group with five other people, at least one person is going to try to literally do nothing but put their name on it.

Yeah. We have one guy that I suspect put maybe 30 minutes max into the project. It doesn't really matter though because it was so easy.

Thrasher · November 01, 2015, 10:55:00 PM

While I do dislike them I do get why they're done. Depending on what field you're going into you'll be likely doing group projects in the future, so this kind of makes sense as practice for the real thing.

Doctor Doom · November 01, 2015, 10:55:11 PM

Admittedly I like group projects because I only need to do a fraction of the work.

I still make sure I put actual effort into it though and not just glance over what my partner/s did and say 'looks good'.

Septy · November 01, 2015, 10:56:37 PM

Had to do a group project the other day and only me and one other person actually did the work while the other two fucked off.

Fuck group projects

Sandtrap · November 02, 2015, 01:08:31 AM

I remember those stuffy old fun things.

I put the team on my back doe.

Jono · November 02, 2015, 01:23:56 AM

I don't have a problem with group projects as long as we get to pick who wants to be in our group. That way you get to pick who you know and are comfortable working with.

I absolutely HATED it when teachers would assign groups. I would always end up in a group full of cucklords and dumbasses and I would end up doing all the work.

Batch · November 02, 2015, 01:42:55 AM

I feel like I always had a somewhat more.....enlightened view on things in school.

For this very reason I hated working with others who were forced. I work well with friends because we shared the same views, but you get two people who don't talk, well its not easy, and one person (me generally did the work)

Not to mention that school was full of fucking deadbeats

True Turquoise · November 02, 2015, 01:43:43 AM

I just do all the work