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Posted by bio_man   Feb 9, 2018    3573 views

February is upon us.
 
Gone are the freshly printed syllabi and daydreams of perfect scores. It's February, and that exciting back-to-school feeling has probably worn away.

Not to say that school isn't still exciting. I'm sure that for some of you, the daily routine of tasks and tests is just lovely. But I'd venture to say that many of you — most of you — have had to deal with the most dreaded assignment of all, a sure sign that fun and games are over: the group project.

Teachers assign group projects for a number of reasons. For one, it's less assignments that they have to grade, an important consideration when class sizes at large universities are in the triple digits.

But the motivation to assign group projects cannot be purely selfish on the teachers' part.
 
I often mused that the purpose and goal of teachers was to make my life unhappy. I now realize that they cared very little about my personal life. They were, in fact, trying to help me learn. Imagine that.

And maybe group projects do help.

 They force you to meet classmates that you otherwise may have avoided.
 
 They allow you to share your ideas with peers, to hear the ideas of your peers, to *gasp* learn something from your peers.
 
 They require a strict attention to organization.
 
 They prepare you for the real world.

 Wait, they prepare you for the real world??

Alas, the debate as old as group projects themselves. Do group projects teach the skills that you will need in the real world?

Yes and no.

Group projects require a ton of planning and coordination. Forget about actually working on the project, finding a common time that fits into each group member's too-busy schedule is often the most difficult part.

Does this, the most distinguishing and difficult characteristic of the group project, apply to real world situations?

Once again, yes and no.

Organizational skills will always be a trait that leads to success. But in the typical workplace, the hardest part — the planning —
 has already been decided for you.  
 
The office opens, coworkers (or group members, if you will) arrive and work together. It's a daily group project, and the schedule is built-in.

Of course sometimes it's not so easy. Coworkers are busy, sick, unavailable. For those times, let's just hope the difficulty you face pales in comparison to the group projects of February 2018.

What's your opinion? Are group projects worth the hassle?

Share your success stories and horror stories. And let's meet here at the same time next week.

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