Group work leads to unhappy students

There is obvious value in learning to work with peers while completing difficult or arduous tasks.

However, teachers assigning grades to groups of students often lump the undeserving with the hard working.

“It is really unfair, I feel, as a social psychologist, to make the group’s success part of an individual’s grades,” professor Ann Weber said. “Instead of teaching people to like each other, discover each other’s talents and bring each other out of their shells, we find students can’t wait for group assignments to be over.”

During her career as a psychologist and 32 years of teaching at UNC Asheville, Weber co-wrote the textbook Psychology: Core Concepts, which is familiar to UNCA psychology 101 students.

One of the biggest problems students encounter when grouped with peers is levels of motivation vary by person. When professors assign additive tasks, if only one person in the group wants an A, they will likely have to do extra work to get it.

If a motivated student achieves the A in this situation, less-motivated people reap undeserved credit.

This problem is called social loafing, Weber said, which is composed of two different parts – classroom “suckers” and free riders.

Social loafing suggests even when students think they are doing their best in these groups, they are probably not.

The reason behind this is that, on some level, motivated students think their best efforts will be taken advantage of – these are the “suckers.” The students willing to take advantage of the group situation are the free riders not doing their part.

The chance of getting at least one free rider in a group of three or four is significant for students concerned about their GPA.

Last year, more than 10 percent of all grades at UNCA were Cs or less, according to UNCA officials. Roughly one in five freshmen students drop out, so there is also the chance partners will vanish half way through a project.

Low contributors often deny or rationalize their position in the group. However, free riders’ response to receiving undue credit can be counterintuitive to some.

“Instead of acknowledging they aren’t doing their part, free riders might say, ‘I’m excluded from the group because that person is an asshole and wants to run things; no one pushes me around so I’m not going to do anything,’” Weber said.

Research shows successful group work starts with getting to know each other, Weber said.

Apparently, free riders are more likely to jump on the backs of strangers than someone with whom they have social connections.

Another issue to consider is personality and learning style differences among students.

While some students are perfectly comfortable interacting and communicating, others find forced relationships distressful or distracting.

“I feel like I get the most out of things when I can manage how much time goes into a project. I want to be solely responsible for my work,” senior Logan Kelly said. With a full-time work and class schedule, he said his only free time to meet with group members is late at night, which usually doesn’t work for them.

“Finding a time when everyone can meet out of class is really difficult. Another part that is hard for me is even when everyone is motivated, getting everyone’s ideas expressed in any cohesive form is almost impossible,” Kelly said.

For students who are motivated but naturally introverted or timid, presenting creative ideas to unfamiliar peers might be the biggest downside of group work.

“I’m pretty shy. When I am assigned to work with a group of strangers it causes a fair amount of anxiety,” said junior Jake Klodt. Collaborative assignments usually mean working with people who are more outgoing, he said.

While extroverts often seem like enthusiastic group members, Klodt said they occasionally seem to talk or try to take over before thinking. This can lead to a damaging grade or the embarrassment of group members, he said.

“Some random groupings of people and even some intentional groupings of people are just not going to gel. It’s no one’s fault,” Weber said. “You can’t say, ‘This is your partner, work it out,’ certainly not in the space of a semester.”

Group work in the classroom should not be abandoned, but teachers who decide to include group work should do their homework on effective techniques, which requires even more work. Lumping students into unmonitored groups enables social loafing, while monitoring and grading students’ individual contributions in group work provides better results, Weber said.

“Each person could be graded individually for his or her contribution to the total task, but the instructor has to do a lot more work for that,” she said. “When students know they have the chance to be individually graded, it reassures them. This is called individual monitoring and is something that, as a professor, I can do.”

In Weber’s classes, students are assigned tasks difficult for any one person to do. However, she makes sure each student knows their individual contribution will be appreciated and monitored, she said.

“If a student thinks they can do A work, they should be able to get an A. If someone thinks they can sneak by and not show up or contribute, they should be made accountable,” Weber said.

In today’s age of massive online social networks, meeting face to face with close friends decreases as more people effortlessly communicate via the Internet or browser-enhanced cell phones.

It might be time for professors to re-evaluate incorporating additive tasks in classrooms.

Students often resist or are uncomfortable with this approach, and research shows additive tasks can be more damaging than productive.

However, effectively dealing with additive group projects is possible.

Developing positive communication with group members is not only helpful in this situation, but is also a good skill to pick up for future use.

Making an effort to connect on some level with co-workers can make required collaborations less painful, and eventually even pleasant, if friendships develop.

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