Ever since I can remember I have always hated group projects. I will admit I am a very independent person in general so I like to do things on my own. Group projects are not apart of my repertoire and I hope that when I'm a teacher that I will not see my students going through what I had to. One of my biggest pet peeves on my list (yes I have an actual handwritten list of pet peeves) is people who do not communicate within the group. I understand that we learn through social interaction and all of that education psychology goodness-however, I do not see that group projects are useful unless you want anxiety through the roof about your grade. No thanks.
Recently, I had to do a group project for my Comparative Literature International Film study class. This dates back to before thanksgiving break when I was leaving the day of my actual presentation but my professor let me switch to a different group who would go after the break. I let my new group members know that I was in their group and they were okay with it. So, I was able to see the power point, it was shared with me and everything. Two weeks go by, our presentation day is up and the project is finished and has my name on it. Let me give you a bit of information nobody communicated with me nor did I do anything on that power point. Yes I could have reached out to them but I didn't have any contact information from anyone. Long story short, I now have to do a separate power point on a different topic for credit.
The example above is exactly why I dislike people who do not communicate. This problem could have easily been solved and I could have gotten a grade for something I contributed to. I also didn't mention how stupid I felt for just standing there and not presenting anything because the members of the group wouldn't let me. Plus, group projects are always that one thing that not everyone will commit to. For instance, I either get stuck with all of the work and get a unwanted grade or get none of the work and get an unwanted grade. There is no in-between for group projects which irks me a lot.
I understand the teacher's intent of making group projects a thing because we get different ideas from each other and learn new things. I understand that socializing is an important part of learning and making friends. I also can see how it is a lot of grading on the teacher's part as well. I just would rather do my own project that I know all the information on and contributed to. Not that I am saying I don't work well with other people it's just hard to communicate with a brick wall. Group projects are the worst and always will be the worst kinds of projects in school.
