Why Graded Group Projects in College Are Ridiculous

It seems to be more and more common in college classes-traditional tests, quizzes, and papers are being replaced by group projects or group papers. My husband started back to college recently, and most of his grades in his classes thus far have been based on the dreaded "group projects." Just a few years ago, it seemed like more individual work was required, but not anymore.

Let me start off by saying that if you as a student are a slacker, do poor work, or cannot put together a decent paper or project to save your life, you will most likely love group projects-if you get into the right group. All you need to pass the class without doing anything is to show up to class and get into a group with one or two conscientious, studious individuals. The hard-working students who care about getting a decent grade will have no choice but to do most or all of the work on the project or paper, and your name will still appear on it, which equals an easy "A" for you.

All anyone has to do is watch an episode of The Apprentice to realize that in any group, one or two people emerge as the diligent ones, doing all the work. Graded group projects are thus totally unfair. Why should everyone in the group get a good grade for a project that one person has spent hours completing. There is no "board room" for evaluation in a college class-grades are given out based on the final project or paper that is completed.

My husband was assigned a group project last semester, with two other guys. The Sunday before the project was due, he was up until all hours of the night working on finishing the project, while the other two people were at home in bed sleeping. They had done a minimal amount of work and allowed him to do most of the rest of the work completing the project. Yes, my husband could have asked them to do more, but then the project would probably have never have been completed.

Another pitfall of group projects is that it is sometimes nearly impossible to be able to get the whole group together at one time to work on the project. Most students have varying class and work schedules. If a student works full-time and is taking part-time classes, this gives him or her very few scheduling opportunities for group meetings.

Professors act as if group projects are a preparation for real life, and that once a student is out in the work force, he/she will be faced with these "group" assignments every day in the office. This is ludicrous. Anyone who has ever worked in an office or with a group knows that the same principles I have mentioned above are true in the workforce-one or two conscientious people will rise to the top as the "leaders" of the group and end up doing most of the work. Let's face it, groups don't get promoted, people do.

I propose a return to the good old days of working on a project or taking a test by yourself for your own grade. This may disappoint the slackers and those who hope to "ride to an A" on other's shirttails, but ultimately, it is the most fair way to grade.