By Erica Gustafson, Opinion Editor
Group assignments are generally one of the biggest things that students dread in the education system. It doesn’t really matter if they are in middle school, high school or college; most students do not enjoy the task.
If a student gets placed in a good group of driven classmates, they might not have many issues throughout the development process.
However, other students are not that fortunate. Many students get paired into groups where people do not pull their weight and communicate to get the job done. Many instances show that specific students will take the lead and complete a majority of a group project. Then, they will present or submit their project with every student involved getting credit; despite what they contributed.
This concept has gotten even worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Colleges and universities around the world had to adapt to the precautions and regulations set forward by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). With that comes mask mandates and constant social distancing.
I don’t know about anyone else, but past group projects do not really abide by these policies. Yet some professors still include and have even increased the number of group projects within their course plans.
Many professors and students are utilizing tools like Zoom to continue a hybrid form of teaching and engagement. Groups of students working on projects have been setting up meeting after meeting to meet safely during times of uncertainty. Though it is helpful, it is not always the answer to everything.
A lot of instances show that students who engage in group project activities over Zoom often look at a computer screen full of black boxes with students’ names in them. This does not help with engagement and typically leads to short meetings lacking in a collective group effort.
Students who then do not wish to meet over such online group rooms have to face difficulties of meeting face-to-face with risk factors of COVID-19 exposure. They need to remember that there should be limited contact with multiple people to avoid risking infection or possible contact tracing.
A 2020 article from the Baylor Lariat, a student newspaper out of Baylor University, sums up this concept very well. This conundrum “comes with an ultimatum – risk poor group communication by doing everything virtually, or risk physical health by meeting up in person to work on the task.”
Group projects can add more stress to students who are trying to work their way through a whole new educational experience; in-person and virtual education during a global pandemic.
Students are tasked with creating their own ways of outside communication because many professors are not equipped to put students in group work during classes. They have to keep students safely distanced during lectures to avoid outbreaks and the possibility of increasing cases among the student body.
I’m not saying that teachers and professors should forget about group projects altogether; they can provide a beneficial experience for students headed towards a work field. However, they simply do not belong in a curriculum during a global pandemic full of social distancing mandates.
gustafea18@bonaventure.edu
