Class assignments are a valuable tool educators use in all of our classes, and these range from individual to group work. What works best and what is preferred? That may be different for different students, but I like to work alone.
“I think I actually like solo projects [more]” said OH junior Christian Zaldivar. “I think [they’re the] easiest… to accomplish…You’re working on your own terms, and it’s easier just to do in general.”
Other students said that their favorite types of assignments came from classes like Algebra or science-related classes, noting that these classes usually assign individual work.
¨I really like solo [projects],” said OH junior Lemont Richardson. “[They’re] pretty easy for me. And they [don´t] cause me any stress.”
While individual work is generally successful for most students, many express a different type of sentiment towards the alternative model of assignments.
“Group projects? They’re my least favorite,” said Zaldivar. “I think you’re very limited when it comes to creative freedom [when] creating them.
The “creative freedom” Zaldivar speaks of is lost due to the flexibility group projects require with others and the requirement of surrendering the use of your ideas in favor of someone else’s. This is a big problem for many students, not to mention the social problems it comes with.
¨We [students] kind of didn’t talk with each other during [group] projects,¨ said Richardson, “That really [doesn´t] work well.”
Yet, communication is vital in group projects, and without it, other infamous problems may occur.
“I think what [doesn´t work] is everyone contributing equally,¨ said Zaldivar. “There [are] definitely some people who worked more than others.”
So why do we even have group projects when they seem so redundant and problematic? OH junior Will Tracy explains the following.
“Group projects [are] to help [students] understand the value of teamwork… later in life, you are going to need some help, in work or in college. So that’s why [high school] group projects are here to teach you teamwork.”
In addition to the value of learning teamwork, there are other key skills that are helpful to learn now so we can use them later in life.
“I think it’s to better foster communication… skills,” Zaldivar added.
Another, according to Richardson: “I think [schools] use them to increase social skills among people.”
It’s apparent group projects are here to stay, so how can we improve group work? The answer lies in the voice of OH students.
“What I personally would add,” said Richardson, “I think every group member should, like, get passed around a paper clearly explaining their assigned role in the project. That way they know what they have to do.”
Zaldivar mentioned, “I think teachers could change how kids would interact with each other. I think they can monitor more who works most than who works the least, because It definitely feels a bit unfair at times.”
“I would change them by writing the academic consequences of failing your assigned role in the project,” said Tracy. “You have to explain all of it, in a way that makes sense, so students can understand the importance of their work.”
Zaldivar added the final piece of advice: “I think it should definitely be separate grades.”
If teachers applied these suggestions to group work, they could achieve smooth cooperation between students, improved work ethic, and use individual grading fairness based on the quality and quantity of work. And of course, achieve the intended learning target.
“If people would just talk [together] when working on a project, we would get their perspective on the assignment,” Richardson said, “well, [that way], I and other [students] would learn a deeper understanding of the material from group projects.”
Hello! My name is Tristan Acosta and I'm a junior at Oswego High School, this is my first year of being on the 42Fifty staff. You can contact me by emailing 42Fifty@sd308.org and putting my name in the subject line. We welcome comments on our articles and feedback on our publication!
