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Well us people who hate group work do not get into careers where we have to collaborate with a huge group and the group should not determine our fate as individuals. We do not live in a communist nation.
So if you were in a major that didn't require group work, I'm assuming when you did have to do it it was in some type of general requirement course. Contrary to what you may think, it is beneficial to be able to work with others. College is also about becoming well-rounded and learning more than just what's in the books. Like people skills. Seems like you may still need some work in that area. LOL at you comparing group work to communism.
Pop your ego. Did you bother trying to include your classmates? Did you treat them like friends? Or did you take over and micro-manage and alienate everyone? Some of this could be blamed on your sour and perfectionist attitude. I don't know anyone that is perfect.
Whoa buddy, I don't have an ego. I can't make someone do something they don't want to do and I shouldn't have to. I shouldn't have to try to include anyone, this is team work I'm not gonna hold your hand the whole time.
You're assuming I try to take over and run everything, first off leadership isn't my thing and never has been, secondly I'm far from a perfectionist I really don't care if anything gets done, thirdly I usually do my own part first then if I want a high grade I'll do like an idiot and do the work assigned to someone else who's most likely missing in action. A lot of the time I just leave it alone and rock with whatever grade we (usually half of the group) get.
Now there have been times (like the last group thing) where I've been in groups where people are reliable and we worked together and things got done but that's not too often.
Nothing's wrong with me, these are my experiences, this is why I prefer to work alone. You probably had different experiences with groups but don't apply that to me and my situations, I'm not you.
Sour & perfectionist attitude lol. You don't even know me, I'm actually very laid back with an "It's whatever" attitude towards things such as school. Man people kill me.
Last edited by Infamous92; 05-09-2010 at 04:39 PM..
So if you were in a major that didn't require group work, I'm assuming when you did have to do it it was in some type of general requirement course. Contrary to what you may think, it is beneficial to be able to work with others. College is also about becoming well-rounded and learning more than just what's in the books. Like people skills. Seems like you may still need some work in that area. LOL at you comparing group work to communism.
Interesting. I'd actually like to be able to work with others and the work load can be spread around but in H.S. 70% of the time it ended in "I can do bad (or good) all by myself". Maybe and hopefully this'll change in college.
I've never been a fan of group work, but in grad school, it was required. I have to say it really helped me to collaborate as I used to be one of those people who preferred to do everything alone. With group work, the work is spread out. It's unfortunate when someone doesn't hold up his/her end of the deal and everyone either gets stung with a bad grade or everyone has to work harder to make up for that person's slack. In an ideal world, everyone would do their part and the world would be a better place, but as others have said--the real world consists of people who don't. Group work taught me to depend on others and not to stress myself out by putting more on me than I should (unless I have no choice but to work alone).
My concern with group work is that the benefits seem to be greater for the timid, unprepared or unreliable compared to those who fall on the other extreme. It has been a rarity in [school] group to feel as if I have benefited from the experience.
I have no problem working with others and have had several jobs that required extensive group interaction and trust to meet project deadlines. Again, in these instances, the traits of those who are either timid, unprepared, or unreliable are still evident.
This takes me back to the whole point in understanding if group work is really that great, let's talk about who are the real benefactors in group work, who are the losers, and can a balance be achieved?
Three group projects this semester
1. 4 in the group, three got together after class to discuss (the fourth was absent)
We discussed as a whole what the expectation were, discussed our schedules and what we did best. One collected the data, one put together the scenario, one would put it all together with citations and the one not there was to write the conclusion.
The one not there was emailed, never responded.
The one not there was phoned, never replied to messages.
The one not there was told in the next class period what the group had decided.
Said okay but never met the deadline and never submitted the work.
The group all did the assignment as required, the one that was to put it all together and email the professor did the part of the one not there. The one not there received credit because that was a group member.
2. Another group project in ^^ class, the one who did not work was in this group also. In this group there were 5 members.
One did the introduction - along with putting the presentation together as this one was a full time student and not a student/employee
One did the assessment
One did a teaching scenario
Another did another teaching scenario
And the same one did the case study... at the last minute the day of the presentation this one phoned the person putting it together (missed all deadlines) and asked to have her information added. The information was added and the same one did not like the way it was done. The day of the presentation this member was not prepared and it was obvious.
3) This group consisted of 5 members
1 member asked a question at the first group meeting only to be told by one member "If you had read you would not be asking that kind of question"
at the 2nd meeting this member again stated she was confused as to the expectations.
I too expressed my concern and inability to follow assignment.
One member attempted to explain with the other member stating she did not have time to be explaining something that should be understood already.
The first member never returned to class.
The whole semester was spent working on this group project, something would be completed and 2 members would not like it and want it redone.
They would call a meeting and go off task, and call another meeting to try and regroup.
Even at the last day they were trying to make changes and redo work.
I am well aware that everyone works at different levels and is good at different things, but to not do anything is not acceptable. I have skills and I will make it clear that I will utilize my skills if others will take the slack where I am not good. Most classmates do the same. However not doing anything should not be allowed.
Last edited by LovingSAT; 05-10-2010 at 06:23 PM..
Reason: More thoughts...
Three group projects this semester
1. 4 in the group, three got together after class to discuss (the fourth was absent)
We discussed as a whole what the expectation were, discussed our schedules and what we did best. One collected the data, one put together the scenario, one would put it all together with citations and the one not there was to write the conclusion.
The one not there was emailed, never responded.
The one not there was phoned, never replied to messages.
The one not there was told in the next class period what the group had decided.
Said okay but never met the deadline and never submitted the work.
The group all did the assignment as required, the one that was to put it all together and email the professor did the part of the one not there. The one not there received credit because that was a group member.
2. Another group project in ^^ class, the one who did not work was in this group also. In this group there were 5 members.
One did the introduction - along with putting the presentation together as this one was a full time student and not a student/employee
One did the assessment
One did a teaching scenario
Another did another teaching scenario
And the same one did the case study... at the last minute the day of the presentation this one phoned the person putting it together (missed all deadlines) and asked to have her information added. The information was added and the same one did not like the way it was done. The day of the presentation this member was not prepared and it was obvious.
3) This group consisted of 5 members
1 member asked a question at the first group meeting only to be told by one member "If you had read you would not be asking that kind of question"
at the 2nd meeting this member again stated she was confused as to the expectations.
I too expressed my concern and inability to follow assignment.
One member attempted to explain with the other member stating she did not have time to be explaining something that should be understood already.
The first member never returned to class.
The whole semester was spent working on this group project, something would be completed and 2 members would not like it and want it redone.
They would call a meeting and go off task, and call another meeting to try and regroup.
Even at the last day they were trying to make changes and redo work.
I am well aware that everyone works at different levels and is good at different things, but to not do anything is not acceptable. I have skills and I will make it clear that I will utilize my skills if others will take the slack where I am not good. Most classmates do the same. However not doing anything should not be allowed.
Jeeze 3 in one semester? Sucks. I did 5 or 6 my entire time in college and that was too much.
In the real world, there are generally groups where there need to be groups. A group of people prepares a set of financial statements, so members in the group can check others' errors. A group of people operates a fire hose, because one person doesn't have 10 arms. And so on.
In college classes, for some reason, many projects best done by an individual are assigned to groups. Students aren't stupid -- they see that there is no point to the group, besides easing the professor's workload. So they inevitably slack.
I've worked in a team setting in my professional life for several years. I have also taken college courses which required a lot of team work. There is not one thing about my college courses that prepared me to work on a team at any of my jobs.
There is not place for team work in college courses. I despise it in an academic setting.
That's because human resources hire people that are homogeneous.
In group work in college. They can gang up on you and try to remove from you the group if they think you are a "slacker". Pop your ego is what I say to those who can't accept that when you work in a group people will be asking questions and throwing in opinions and if you don't like their ideas then you cannot say "He is a slacker and did absolutely nothing".
Quote:
Originally Posted by RjRobb2
I've worked in a team setting in my professional life for several years. I have also taken college courses which required a lot of team work. There is not one thing about my college courses that prepared me to work on a team at any of my jobs.
There is not place for team work in college courses. I despise it in an academic setting.
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You don't even know me, I'm actually very laid back with an "It's whatever" attitude towards things such as school. Man people kill me. 
