Views on group projects vary greatly depending on whether you’re a student or teacher. It can often depend on what your task is for the group project. Are you the one always stuck doing all the work? Are you the one who sits back and lets everyone else take charge? Or are you the teacher who assigned it?

In May 2018, The Prowl reported that PHS students’ opinions vary about group projects, depending on what role they play in the group. Some students said they have come to hate group work because they were tasked with all the work, while others like it because they can get away with doing bare minimum and their teacher will still credit them with a good grade. Additionally, some teachers said it’s easier to group grade rather  than grade 20 individual student projects.

Biology teacher Mrs. Lenita Moore uses group projects in her science classes where she sees they fit best.

“Learning how to work with others is an important job related skill, so I think that it is important for students to practice these in high school,” Mrs. Moore said. “Labs are sometimes less intimidating if you have a group or partner.

“My Honors Biology class often thrives on group work. They feed off of each other’s ideas. As a teacher, I need to be very strategic when creating these groups. I usually have them present it to the class, so I can grade it right there instead of during prep or at home.”

Spanish teacher Mr. Brandon Preator uses group work as well, though, he has a slightly different view.

“One of the reasons I do group projects is because it gives students ownership in their work, and not just ownership in the project itself, but ownership, like collective ownership,” Mr. Preator said. “Often times I’ll see students who put it on themselves to make assignments. I think that’s an important part of working in groups, or working in teams, not just being able to make the assignments, but being able to carry out that portion of the assignment.”

One of the ways Mr. Preator uses group work is through dialogues wherein students are able to learn how to speak the Spanish language.

Mr. Nick Fulton uses group work in his history classes to help students learn more about the subject.

“It’s different when you’re doing a project; it’s designed to learn the material, rather than like a test or a paper where you’re saying this is what I’ve learned about this information,” Mr. Fulton said.

History teacher Mrs. Ashley Hildebrand explained  why she doesn’t use group projects very much.

“Not everyone puts the effort into the group work, and some kids do nothing at all. Quite often only one or two people contribute extensively to the project,” Mrs. Hildebrand said. “I think giving a group grade is hard because one person may be getting a grade that they did or did not deserve. I prefer to give an individual grade on a group project and base that grade on what the individual contributed to the project.”

English teacher Mrs. Tracy McArthur uses group projects on occasion.

“I rarely allow the students to pick their groups for a variety of reasons. The stronger students in the class will tend to group together, leaving the weaker one out, which works to no one’s benefit.” Mrs. McArthur said. “The depth of understanding and development of teamwork skills that result from generating and comparing alternative solutions and resolving conflicts is gone.

“In diverse groups, the weak students get the benefit of seeing how good students approach assignments and they may also get some individual tutoring, while the strong students who do the tutoring may benefit even more.”

As a student, you are now able to hopefully understand why some of your teachers give out group projects. The teachers bring up strong points as to why some of them do group projects. They have expressed their views on how it can be beneficial for students to work together as a team, and get new ideas from one another. But some have made clear why they don’t do group projects in their classroom.

Although it may not be your favorite thing to do, they use what is most beneficial for them in their classroom setting.