Question for college instructors or parents of college students about group projects

[Kassia]

My daughter has multiple group projects this semester with the same group of students (three not including her).  They have quickly learned that she will do all the work at the last minute, so they don't have to do anything.  She started giving them deadlines before the project is due, but they ignore her deadline and make up excuses (like "I'm tired" - seriously).  She said she's going to be pushier for the next two projects, but I told her being pushy isn't going to work since they know she'll get it done no matter what.

So, what does she do?  I  encouraged her to contact her professor or even her advisor, but she doesn't want to.  My older kids have had problems with the dreaded group projects before also.  One went to his professor and it was all sorted out well.  Another was in a group where only one person did absolutely nothing so it was easier for the rest of the group to pick up the slack.  But dd is doing the work of 4 people now.  She said one does some work at the last minute, but it's sloppy and awful.  It's' so unfair and I'm afraid it's going to affect her final grade.  

Should I push her to go to the professor about this?  I know she doesn't want to, but I think he needs to know.  She's a very passive introverted student who cares very much about her grades and work.

[skimomma]

As a former instructor and parent of a dual-enrolled student who loathes group projects, I suggest talking to the instructor.  It likely won't change anything but having a dialog with the instructor gives them a heads up when deciding on individual and group grades.  One of the classes I taught involved a semester-long group project.  There was always at least one team to approach me about this type of thing and often multiple.  I mediated teams, pretty much joining them as a silent team member, in situation like yours and tried putting extra checks on the group.  This seldom corrected the issue but it gave me a way of tracking who contributed what, how, and when.  There is always a chance this will backfire as some (very few) instructors just don't want to hear it.  They want the teams to work it out on their own.  But I think it is worth a try.

[regentrude]

I recommend talking to the instructor. 

In my course, I do not assign group projects for grades, but use small group discussions, and I appreciate when students let me know that none of the other students in their breakout room participated. 

My DS has group projects in one of his classes, and they have to do peer evaluations. 
The instructor needs to know how this is going, and if they have not implemented another way to find out (peer evals, silent participation), the student should tell them.

Edited October 20, 2020 by regentrude

[BlsdMama]

Generally speaking, there will be a survey at the end to see the contributions of the group - a picture emerges and the professor grades accordingly.  It helps satisfy the frustration.  I still can't understand why we attempt group projects with an online scenario.  It helps to be exceedingly nice  - "I'll take X (the bigger and more necessary piece) if one person will take X and one person will take Y." "Awesome - thanks guys.  We're such a great group.  So the deadline is the 20th.  So if every person can get me their part by the 15th, I'll toss something together so you guys can give me feedback!  Thanks for your hard work. I'm so grateful." (All true, just all preemptive.)  Then on the 14th AM send out the reminders - hey guys! Two day warning - I'll need this by 10pm on the 15th! Then on the 15th, around lunch time, - just a reminder guys - I need X and Y tonight.  I have tomorrow set aside to work on this project so I'll need this from you."

It really is about encouragement, accountability, and scaffolding.  Truth is many young adults can't break a project down, set the parameters, and sort out how to make something come together.

[Carrie12345]

I don’t have a student-focused suggestion (just a kid who was completely shocked by the realities of group projects), but I do think any group projects a professor assigns should have built in ways of assessing the different efforts put in. There isn’t a single teacher on earth who doesn’t know how these things often wind up going. Plan accordingly for it.

[Danae]

Talk to the instructor.

 

I only assign group work when group process/dynamics is explicitly part of the learning goal. I also assign roles within the groups or let them chose roles and tell me who has which role and one of the roles is a monitor who is responsible for making sure everyone is participating. 
 

I do think learning to work in groups is an important educational goal, but that should mean learning skills to make your groups work better, not “let’s get students habituated to dysfunctional group work, because they’ll have to put up with a lot of it in the real world!” 

[wintermom]

My dd has been struggling with this for 2 years, which is both years of university. The absolute worst was her organic chem lab where she wasn't allowed to submit her lab report on her own, even though half the group ditched her and submitting without her and the other group members weren't responding to her. The stress was awful. For a course that is already VERY challenging, the lab coordinators and/or prof should be fired to doing this to students. That's my mommy voice speaking.

Undergrads at large universities have almost no power, and they are the lowest people on the totem pole just after TAs, IMO. It's a money grab for our publicly funded institutions in Canada, I believe. Cram in lots of students into first-year courses, don't provide enough TA funding to support the profs, and see who sinks and who swims. 

[Bambam]

You encourage child to talk to instructor. A good instructor will set up group projects so that it is obvious which part is done by which team member - at least as much as possible.  And I'd encourage my daughter to NOT have a group with those kids again. Find new kids that will do the work. Avoid slackers. 

[bethben]

My son had a group project in a communications class where they were supposed to use three references in the paper.  My son was the only one who used references (he used three so everyone else felt like they had a pass).  He told me the writing was horrible by some members and unedited.  The group got a “C”. I told him that if he had wanted an “A”,he should have edited everyone’s work.  He was a junior in high school at the time and was working with high school graduates.  He was disgusted that in order to get the grade he wanted, he had to do a ton more work than everyone else.  Thankfully, the professor graded the group project by considering the individual contribution and looking at a previous grade on a previous individual project.  He did get his “A”.

[Bootsie]

I know different professors who handle this very differently.  Is there anything in the syllabus about handling problems within the group?  is there anything in the syllabus regarding individual grades versus group grades?  I would begin by looking at that and the overall percentage of the grade the group work is.  When speaking with the professor, it would be helpful to know if the professor's policy is to assign one grade for the entire group, assign different grades based upon the professor's perception of the work done in combination with feedback from other students, if the professor will let her change groups, or if she might be able to do the work by herself, not in a group.  

 

[Kassia]

51 minutes ago, BlsdMama said:

Generally speaking, there will be a survey at the end to see the contributions of the group - a picture emerges and the professor grades accordingly.  It helps satisfy the frustration.  I still can't understand why we attempt group projects with an online scenario.  It helps to be exceedingly nice  - "I'll take X (the bigger and more necessary piece) if one person will take X and one person will take Y." "Awesome - thanks guys.  We're such a great group.  So the deadline is the 20th.  So if every person can get me their part by the 15th, I'll toss something together so you guys can give me feedback!  Thanks for your hard work. I'm so grateful." (All true, just all preemptive.)  Then on the 14th AM send out the reminders - hey guys! Two day warning - I'll need this by 10pm on the 15th! Then on the 15th, around lunch time, - just a reminder guys - I need X and Y tonight.  I have tomorrow set aside to work on this project so I'll need this from you."

It really is about encouragement, accountability, and scaffolding.  Truth is many young adults can't break a project down, set the parameters, and sort out how to make something come together.

This is what she's doing - being exceedingly nice (one actually had the audacity to ask her to look over a different assignment for him, which she did) and giving them deadlines (which they ignore).  She sends reminders, too.  But nothing changes - they apologize and thank her for doing the work and say it won't happen again.  This  is a freshman class and it's clear they are not going to make it in college if they don't figure out how to get things done well and on time. 

 

37 minutes ago, Bambam said:

.  And I'd encourage my daughter to NOT have a group with those kids again. Find new kids that will do the work. Avoid slackers. 

Unfortunately, she was assigned this group for all projects throughout the semester.  It's clear that things aren't going to change, which is why I am encouraging her to talk to the professor now.  

 

Thank you for all the responses.  I will continue to push her to talk to the professor.  

[Kassia]

44 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

I know different professors who handle this very differently.  Is there anything in the syllabus about handling problems within the group?  is there anything in the syllabus regarding individual grades versus group grades?  I would begin by looking at that and the overall percentage of the grade the group work is.  When speaking with the professor, it would be helpful to know if the professor's policy is to assign one grade for the entire group, assign different grades based upon the professor's perception of the work done in combination with feedback from other students, if the professor will let her change groups, or if she might be able to do the work by herself, not in a group.  

 

I'll have her look at the syllabus.  Her feeling is that the professor will just say they need to communicate better within the group.  He's a really nice guy and I think he'd want to know.  She doesn't want to cause any trouble since her grade is still fine in the class. 

 

[Farrar]

I'm not on the instructor end... but I've seen this backfire for students. Some professors will grade more harshly if she goes to him for help on this. I'd be careful. Definitely look at the prof's reviews on ratemyprofessor and if there's a community where she can ask, she should. See if anyone else has gone to the prof for help and gotten burned, just in case.

[Bootsie]

41 minutes ago, Kassia said:

I'll have her look at the syllabus.  Her feeling is that the professor will just say they need to communicate better within the group.  He's a really nice guy and I think he'd want to know.  She doesn't want to cause any trouble since her grade is still fine in the class. 

 

is there something specific she would like the professor to do?  Is she looking for the professor to give her tips on how better to communicate with the group?  Grade her differently?  Change her group?  Allow her to do the work by herself?  A meeting with the team including the professor?  Or, is she just wanting to share her frustration?  I think it is helpful to have something specific that she is asking for or a solution in mind.  

[mom2scouts]

Why would any professor be assigning group projects to college students in the middle of a pandemic? Even experienced professionals I know are having difficulty completing projects when meetings have to be done all online and collaboration is difficult.

[Kassia]

2 hours ago, Farrar said:

I'm not on the instructor end... but I've seen this backfire for students. Some professors will grade more harshly if she goes to him for help on this. I'd be careful. Definitely look at the prof's reviews on ratemyprofessor and if there's a community where she can ask, she should. See if anyone else has gone to the prof for help and gotten burned, just in case.

Good point.  In this case, he seems like a very nice person who cares about students so I don't think that would be an issue.

 

1 hour ago, Bootsie said:

is there something specific she would like the professor to do?  Is she looking for the professor to give her tips on how better to communicate with the group?  Grade her differently?  Change her group?  Allow her to do the work by herself?  A meeting with the team including the professor?  Or, is she just wanting to share her frustration?  I think it is helpful to have something specific that she is asking for or a solution in mind.  

She's not looking to do anything.  She said it would be more stressful to contact the professor (since she's very passive) than it is to just carry the group.  She said her grade is high enough in the class that the projects can't hurt her anyway.  I was hoping she would contact the professor mostly for the experience if this happens again in the future.  She would definitely prefer to work alone or work in a group with engaged competent students, though.  I told her to communicate that to the professor if she talks to him, but I don't think she is going to contact him about this.   I don't like the way these other students are treating her and then getting the benefits of her hard work either, but I guess that's her issue.  

[Bootsie]

5 minutes ago, mom2scouts said:

Why would any professor be assigning group projects to college students in the middle of a pandemic? Even experienced professionals I know are having difficulty completing projects when meetings have to be done all online and collaboration is difficult.

Because the members of the group bring a variety of perspectives the project and increase the learning experience; because students were expressing that they were feeling isolated and wanted more contact with their peers, not simply listening to lectures from their professors; because being able to work in a team virtually is an (increasingly) important work skill

[skimomma]

28 minutes ago, mom2scouts said:

Why would any professor be assigning group projects to college students in the middle of a pandemic? Even experienced professionals I know are having difficulty completing projects when meetings have to be done all online and collaboration is difficult.

Working in teams, project management, and conflict resolution are often learning outcomes for classes.  In the classes I taught, the team component was required in order to fulfill the learning outcomes for the class.  My teams had to set ground rules at the beginning of the semester to decide what to do with issues like this.  They had to turn in a signed contract that stated exactly what they wanted to happen if one or more team members did not contribute.....and actually how they even defined "contributing."  So, when I had groups that ran into this sort of trouble, my first questions revolved around their contract and either why they were not using that as a guide to resolve the conflict or what about their contract was ineffective when addressing conflict.  Again, this rarely resolved the problem.  If you have one student doing all of the work or one student doing absolutely nothing, it was good for me to know it.  I could then moderate on some level and put measures in place for me to be able to determine how to grade.  We also had team self-assessments.  What often surprised me is that the slackers often self-identified!  They would honestly state in their self-evals that the did not pull their weight.

[mumto2]

My kids now take charge of the group project by contacting their group early on with the intent of being the person that edits the project in the end.  They volunteer upfront and have prepped the project well. They divide the project into different “jobs” where everybody in the group picks something......they do a section plus the editing.  Normally this works fine but there is always at least one person who does not finish.......once the person ended up unavailable due to military service and sent Dd what they had finished before deploying.  She was happy to finish what he started.  They answer the surveys honestly but don’t complain generally......

[eagleynne]

59 minutes ago, Kassia said:

Good point.  In this case, he seems like a very nice person who cares about students so I don't think that would be an issue.

 

She's not looking to do anything.  She said it would be more stressful to contact the professor (since she's very passive) than it is to just carry the group.  She said her grade is high enough in the class that the projects can't hurt her anyway.  I was hoping she would contact the professor mostly for the experience if this happens again in the future.  She would definitely prefer to work alone or work in a group with engaged competent students, though.  I told her to communicate that to the professor if she talks to him, but I don't think she is going to contact him about this.   I don't like the way these other students are treating her and then getting the benefits of her hard work either, but I guess that's her issue.  

If the bolded is true then I would probably do my part to the best of my ability and if the others didn't do their part then so be it. Let them learn what happens when you don't carry your weight. Yeah, you'd lose out on the points for the projects but if it won't hurt her overall grade in the class then so what?

When I was in school towards the end I made it a point to never take on the role of leader unless specifically asked to do so by the instructor. I also made it a point to cc the prof in every "official" group communication I sent out (after meeting with them about the group situation). Emailing to remind people of a deadline? CC the prof. Emailing to ask someone why they didn't show up to a meeting/conference call? CC the prof. It made sure that everyone knew that the prof was aware of the issues and kept the he said/she said down to a minimum. I also had all the work done in a shared Google doc that the prof was on as well so he could go back and see who had done what and when.

[regentrude]

1 minute ago, eagleynne said:

I also made it a point to cc the prof in every "official" group communication I sent out (after meeting with them about the group situation). Emailing to remind people of a deadline? CC the prof. Emailing to ask someone why they didn't show up to a meeting/conference call? CC the prof.

I can see that working in a small class, but for a large class, I pity the prof who is CC-ed on every group communication.
The professor may have several hundred students. That will get annoying really fast.

[Bootsie]

3 minutes ago, eagleynne said:

If the bolded is true then I would probably do my part to the best of my ability and if the others didn't do their part then so be it. Let them learn what happens when you don't carry your weight. Yeah, you'd lose out on the points for the projects but if it won't hurt her overall grade in the class then so what?

When I was in school towards the end I made it a point to never take on the role of leader unless specifically asked to do so by the instructor. I also made it a point to cc the prof in every "official" group communication I sent out (after meeting with them about the group situation). Emailing to remind people of a deadline? CC the prof. Emailing to ask someone why they didn't show up to a meeting/conference call? CC the prof. It made sure that everyone knew that the prof was aware of the issues and kept the he said/she said down to a minimum. I also had all the work done in a shared Google doc that the prof was on as well so he could go back and see who had done what and when.

As a professor, I would find it extremely annoying and inappropriate for a student to CC me on every group email, especially those reminding people of a deadline.  I would never CC my boss on every email I send when I have to do a project with a team, so I would not expect students to do that.  

[Kassia]

29 minutes ago, eagleynne said:

If the bolded is true then I would probably do my part to the best of my ability and if the others didn't do their part then so be it. Let them learn what happens when you don't carry your weight. Yeah, you'd lose out on the points for the projects but if it won't hurt her overall grade in the class then so what?

 

Good point!  I will mention that to her.

[KungFuPanda]

Can she go full scale passive aggressive and just make it clear which parts of the project SHE was responsible for? Her name will be the only name on every little thing. This is especially effective if there is an in class presentation. I vote set them up for a hard fall. She learns to have boundaries and then others learn not to attempt to use people. 

[Bootsie]

5 minutes ago, Kassia said:

Good point!  I will mention that to her.

But, if her goal is to learn, rather than simply accumulate enough points for a particular grade, not doing the projects may impact her learning.  I would not suggest on missing out on a learning opportunity just so that others might learn a lesson she thinks they need to learn.  And, if the project is low stakes enough it isn't going to impact her grade, it may be low stakes enough that it won't impact their grades either.  In fact, a student who is generally a "C" student is often more likely to find that the extra work on a low-stakes group project will not change their grade than "A" student.  

[Kassia]

21 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

But, if her goal is to learn, rather than simply accumulate enough points for a particular grade, not doing the projects may impact her learning.  I would not suggest on missing out on a learning opportunity just so that others might learn a lesson she thinks they need to learn.  

That's also a good point.  In general, this is not a valuable class for her (basically an introduction to engineering course with lots of busywork), but some of the assignments are useful and she may benefit from completing the projects.

[eagleynne]

1 hour ago, regentrude said:

I can see that working in a small class, but for a large class, I pity the prof who is CC-ed on every group communication.
The professor may have several hundred students. That will get annoying really fast.

 

1 hour ago, Bootsie said:

As a professor, I would find it extremely annoying and inappropriate for a student to CC me on every group email, especially those reminding people of a deadline.  I would never CC my boss on every email I send when I have to do a project with a team, so I would not expect students to do that.  

It was a small upper division history class and the group project was really the only thing we did that semester. Additionally, the group only consisted of three people, and the prof was the one who requested that he be cc'd on the communications. He already knew that there had been problems in the group before I was asked to take over as group leader. I would never presume to include a prof in those sorts of communications without first discussing it with them. However, I would, and did, keep a record of all group communications as a cya sort of thing, just like I would at any job.

[Kassia]

12 minutes ago, Heigh Ho said:

sounds like an opportunity to display leadership skills and make contacts; if the partners are opting out she needs to get them to put that in writing. She can then talk to the prof and make a functional group with the others who have had their assigned teammates opt out. 

Since everything is online this semester, she does have everything in writing, but she doesn't want to cause trouble so she's not going to the professor.  She has sent me screenshots.  It's really appalling the way these guys are treating her and the class assignments.  

[easypeasy]

7 hours ago, Kassia said:

 This  is a freshman class and it's clear they are not going to make it in college if they don't figure out how to get things done well and on time.

IF only this were true and if karma would do her work in a timely manner! Unfortunately, my kids have met plenty of these goof-offs who make it through high school, college, and into the Real World just fine. They just ride on everyone else's coattails until it's time to take credit - then they are front of the line with a speech in-hand. It's disgusting, but happens alllll the dang time. 😕 Ugh.

7 hours ago, Farrar said:

I'm not on the instructor end... but I've seen this backfire for students. Some professors will grade more harshly if she goes to him for help on this. I'd be careful.

(Deleted the personal story)

We hate group projects here at Casa Easypeasy. Because they are NOT easypeasy!!!

OP - it sounds like your DDs prof is a generally nice guy, so he could be safe to talk to. Just be wary.

3 hours ago, eagleynne said:

If the bolded is true then I would probably do my part to the best of my ability and if the others didn't do their part then so be it. Let them learn what happens when you don't carry your weight. Yeah, you'd lose out on the points for the projects but if it won't hurt her overall grade in the class then so what?

I'd suggest this if her grade can take it. Ensure that HER part is dang near perfection - clearly different from "the rest of" the project that's being handed in. A good professor should see the discrepancy and at least check in. And if not, maybe DD will have called their bluff and they'll take her deadlines more seriously next time!!!

Edited October 20, 2020 by easypeasy

[Kassia]

@easypeasyI'm sorry about your daughter's experience!  That is awful!  

[katilac]

24 minutes ago, Indigo Blue said:

Some people seem to float through school somehow, doing stuff like this. 

And work. And life.

[EKS]

Group projects are the worst.  

I know it feels weird, but she should let the instructor know what's going on.  I had to do this on a number of occasions and nothing bad ever happened (to me, that is).

[Kassia]

10 minutes ago, Heigh Ho said:

My dc's prof did not view the convo as 'causing trouble'. It was a heads up that three students were not planning on meeting a course outcome and didn't have a shred of decency to front up notify either the prof or the unfortunate assigned teammate.  The dishonesty and the decision to 'only do the minimum'  will show throughout their careers.  Reputation matters.

Oh, I know it's not causing trouble, but that's the way she feels.  Hopefully, that will change as she matures with age.

[G5052]

Yup. I would tell the professor but recognize that the grading may or may not offer separate grading. Some professors do a simple group grade no matter how much one or the other does. My oldest has had a bunch of group project classes, and they have run the whole range. On his major capstone class, he did 90% of the work. On another project they did the entire thing on a Google doc and never met. The professor said it was the best project he had ever seen for that class. 

I was taking a class some time ago with professors. It was for state certification in online teaching. My father was in hospice, so I was on eggshells. They have horrible internet coverage where I'm from, and I could imagine all kinds of problems ahead. My father died the week that the final project was due. I was the team leader. And my mother who had significant dementia was quite a handful. And the aunt that I was staying with found out when I arrived that their high speed internet was completely down because of a contract problem with their provider over dish location and more. When I emailed the professors teaching the class, they said to either withdraw or tough it out. 

So I made sure everyone knew what to do and said I'd edit it on the weekend when I could go to the local library. Periodically I checked in and reminded everyone. Three guesses. Yup. Friday evening hit, and I was the only one who done their section. I had to do some things with my mom Saturday morning related to buying certain additional flowers for the grave, so I did that with her and got her lunch. I went to the library and slaved away until closing. Still nothing but my work. I went to church Sunday with friends there, and then got mom lunch again and went to the library. I finished the report and emailed the other professors and said that it was going in at 8pm. I pointed out areas that could be improved if someone had time. I went and took dinner to mom and went back to the library half an hour before closing. Just before the library closed, I submitted it. Nothing else had been done. And when I checked my email the next day, of course there was a firestorm from my fellow group members. Sigh. We all got the same grade.

[Wheres Toto]

If this is the first project for the semester and she is stuck with this group until the end, I would encourage her to do her part and NOT help them or pick up their slack.  If she does it now she's showing them she'll do the work for them.  Hopefully if she lets them crash on their parts and shows she won't be walked on/do their work for them, they'll step up and do their part for the next project(s). 

Odds are if they are blowing off the group projects, they aren't doing too well in the rest of the class either, so not doing a good job will affect them more than her.

 

[EKS]

2 hours ago, G5052 said:

We all got the same grade.

Instructors who do this should be fired.

[Bootsie]

1 hour ago, DorothyNJ said:

If this is the first project for the semester and she is stuck with this group until the end, I would encourage her to do her part and NOT help them or pick up their slack.  If she does it now she's showing them she'll do the work for them.  Hopefully if she lets them crash on their parts and shows she won't be walked on/do their work for them, they'll step up and do their part for the next project(s). 

Odds are if they are blowing off the group projects, they aren't doing too well in the rest of the class either, so not doing a good job will affect them more than her.

 

Mathematically, often I find that this is not the case.  If a course has three exams and a group project that are each 25% of the grade, a student who makes 95 on each of the exams has to have at least a 75 on the group project to maintain an average above 90 (if that is the cut-off for an A).  Other students who are fine with a C and are making 75 on each exam, will still have an average of 70 if the group grade is 55 and can still get a "c" in the class.  The same "55" would lower the A student's average to 85.  On the other hand, the C students would need a 95 on the group project to bring their grade up to an 80 average.  So the weaker students would find that as long as the group grade is between 55 and 95 it has NO impact on their grade.  

[Bootsie]

23 hours ago, mom2scouts said:

Why would any professor be assigning group projects to college students in the middle of a pandemic? Even experienced professionals I know are having difficulty completing projects when meetings have to be done all online and collaboration is difficult.

Right now, as a professor, I am asking WHY DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF???  Group/team projects always create problems for me as a professor.  I just had a new one occur--I had a group assignment due last Sunday.  A student contacted me that he emailed his group on Thursday and did not get a response until Sunday right before the project was due.  The problem is that the rest of the group decided to finish the work early and turned in the assignment on Wednesday (before he contacted them on Thursday).  Yes, I can see that the others turned in the assignment four days before it was due, without including him.  The assignment is such that each student has a company to analyze and then the group compares/contrasts the companies.  (It isn't simply where one person writes Part A, another student writes Part B, and then you glue them all together).  So, four students compared/contrasted their companies and left the fifth student out (who can't really just do "his part" on his own).  It is a low stakes assignment that is really to get them communicating and seeing a variety of companies so dealing with it really isn't worth the time I am now having to put into it (but leaving a student out defeats the entire purpose of the assignment.)

[Ditto]

23 hours ago, Heigh Ho said:

sounds like an opportunity to display leadership skills and make contacts; if the partners are opting out she needs to get them to put that in writing. She can then talk to the prof and make a functional group with the others who have had their assigned teammates opt out. 

This is an excellent point.

[Skippy]

I would not contact the professor. They already know that this is how the group projects work. In my cynical opinion, they were designed to work this way: with the better, conscientious student(s) doing most of the work, and therefore a decent project is submitted, and everyone gets a passing grade. When in college, my children did what another poster suggested: take charge, edit as necessary, and do whatever work you have to do to get the project done. No, it's not fair, but that's the way the system is set up.

[Kassia]

20 minutes ago, Skippy said:

I would not contact the professor. They already know that this is how the group projects work. In my cynical opinion, they were designed to work this way: with the better, conscientious student(s) doing most of the work, and therefore a decent project is submitted, and everyone gets a passing grade. When in college, my children did what another poster suggested: take charge, edit as necessary, and do whatever work you have to do to get the project done. No, it's not fair, but that's the way the system is set up.

I have a hard time believe that this is the way group projects were designed, but my dd is already doing what the pp suggested - taking charge, editing, and doing whatever work needs to be done to get the project done well and on time.  I just hate that the other group members are taking advantage of her.  

[Moonhawk]

I had one project in college where I was a slacker. I still cringe about it. I did do some work, but it probably broke down to a 65-45 or 70-30. I really feel bad about it, it was purely due to personal stress in that particular 2 week span. I didn't handle it well and yeah, I'm sorry Kirsten, thanks for carrying me!

Every other project I've been part of I've been the coordinator/carrier and yeah, it stinks. On one particular project it was 2 months of me emailing and no one ever replied, to the point I checked in class that I had everyone's correct email. I put a credits area on that one because I was so ticked. I asked everyone to look over the packet really *really* carefully and let me know if anything needed to be changed or taken out before we handed it in. And asked in class before handing in the physical copy if everyone had looked it over (yes all around) and did they think anything was incorrect or would be questioned (nope looks good). Since no one asked...

[KungFuPanda]

Never in my entire life have I spoken to a group project slacker. I only ever hear from the people who did the whole thing. WHERE are these slackers hiding as adults???