"I hate working in groups!" : Addressing the common complaint

During our first meeting my mentor teacher informed me that his classroom was project-based, particularly in the second semester. I was quite pleased with this news, as it fit in well with my constructivist ideals and personal preferences. Still, I was fully aware that such a teaching approach also came with a plethora of challenges. Very quickly, I was conjuring up visions, some of such splendor that others would be amazed we had accomplished such a feat with freshmen classes and some that were more worrisome. I knew from the start that there would be a fairly considerable amount of students that would speak out (or grumble quietly) against working in groups; we are a nation that cherishes independence and personal responsibility and while the education field has been focusing more on collaboration in recent decades, a love for group work has not quite yet found space in every child's heart.

Personally, I have a fairly mixed bag of experience with group projects. As a teacher, I have found them to be invaluable. They promote discussion, allow students to learn from one another, and make the responsibility of grading significantly more manageable. As a high-school student, I always found them to be fairly fun; I typically was allowed to pick my groups and while I remember doing 'most of the work' for several, upon reflecting upon those good ol' days now I'm left to question rather I actually did do an unfair amount of labor or if instead my opinion was colored by immaturity and a fairly self-centered focus. At the university-level, group projects became more difficult. Suddenly, the time to work on them in class was gone and I was in a new environment where I had never met my partners before, while in high school I was liable to be at least comfortable with most of my peers and run into them multiple times a day without trying even if we were not particularly friendly. Since the stakes were now higher, I became more stressed and lost view of the helpfulness of collaboration. Thus, when I become aware that my first major solo teaching task this semester would be to kick-off a group project, I set-it up with the intention of  helping my students develop an appreciation for the practice. I wanted to foster a love for group projects, a difficult task indeed. I wanted to give my students the tools to be able to handle such tasks for years to come. I wanted them to have both the 'easier' high school experience of working with some friends, while also being challenged to cooperate with students that they would not have chosen on their own, perhaps, but would assist them on the way to a grade they could be proud of.

My mentor teacher let me know that 3rd and 5th hour, at least needed assigned groups. I suppose that did figure in prominently to how I tackled this project. I was given the freedom to select the groups for those hours. Sixth hour, a more mature class, was allowed to choose their own set of partners, though I did hand out advice there as well. When creating groups, I set out to avoid both conflict and over-friendliness. I did not put best friends together but I also did not put the shyest student in the class in the same group as the loudest. I attempted, to the best of my ability, to create groups that would have similar expectations and different talents. I wanted students to propel each other to greatness without fighting too fiercely along the way.

I ended up altering my seating chart multiple times before class began on the first day of the project. As students filtered in, they saw me holding a sheet with a significant amount of crossed out names and arrows redirecting kids to different groups then originally jotted down, but I felt confident that I had made amazing choices. Everything would come together very well now, surely! I had completed the most difficult part: creating groups that would love the project!

As it turns out, that was not actually the most difficult part. I doubt you're surprised.

About ten minutes into their workshop time, I realized that the most arduous task when it comes to group work is consistently motivating students. They need to be reminded of why their group will work, that they cannot slack off, and that they need to have both personal drive and the compassion to allow others to 'win' and make differing choices on occasion. So, before embarking on day two of this week-long group project, I regrouped. I researched. I decided to modify my instructions, not so much in regards to content of the assignment (it was a well-developed project and altering it now would only confuse the students) but more in the way I addressed it. I found two main pieces of advice that have had a lasting impact on my view of group work.   The Eberly Center of Teaching Excellence and Educational Accountabilty  recommends that instructors "create individual accountability" stating that educators can "combine a group project with an individual quiz on relevant material. Others base part of the total project grade on a group product (e.g., report, presentation, design, paper) and part on an individual submission." (Eberly, 2015, 2)  Essentially, as educators, we need to give students the power to take some personal responsibility. They need to be made to feel that their entire grade isn't dependent on another's potential folly.  

            However, they also need to be aware that part of their grade is dependent on how they interact with others.  There needs to be a balance between personal responsibility and group responsibility. This is not meant to scare them, but simply to prepare them for the 'real world'. No one can operate in a bubble in our society. You have to depend on others, for better or for worse. Students  need to be prepared for this. Thus, teachers need to prepare assignments that create a certain level of interdependence.  One strategy that The Eberly Center suggests is to limit resources, so that students have to share information and can not isolate themselves (Eberly, 2015, 3). They cannot divide the assignment up very easily; they have to come up with a strategy to cooperate and then implement it. Combining this idea with an individual submission makes group work more productive for both the students and the teacher! It is undeniably a method that I will use both with this project and  in my own future classroom.

 What are the benefits of group work? - Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation -             Carnegie Mellon University. (n.d.). Retrieved January 27, 2016, from             https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/design/instructionalstrategies/groupprojects/b            enefits.html