In the average high school classroom, when group work is mentioned, some eyes will roll and others will light up. While some see it as an opportunity to learn and work with their peers, others view it as a detrimental turn to their grade at the fault of their classmates.
Even though working as a team has a multitude of benefits and drawbacks, many students have developed a firm stance on the subject. In her experience, Chloe Craig ’26 sees group projects as an opportunity to get to know new people with an open mind.
“[Different people] bring new ideas to the table,” Craig said. “Maybe you’re not surrounded by them, so you don’t know them and they have different experiences and interpret things differently.”
Additionally, a common benefit students see in working as a group is the shared workload. Partially for this reason, Amelia Carter ’29 is an advocate for partner work.
“Group projects are a fun way to meet new people,” Carter said. “And then all the responsibility doesn’t fall on you.”
However, while Carter enjoys the social aspects of dividing work on a project, she has noticed among her friends that splitting up work can create anxiety.
“I know a lot of people who don’t like it because they like to be fully in control,” Carter said. “They don’t have that when they’re working with different people.”
Peter Palen, a history teacher at South, has also noticed how students can get uncomfortable by both giving up control of a project and dealing with overbearing partners. Despite this, Palen has seen success from group work when it is properly planned and prepared.
“Everyone should have a defined role in a group,” Palen said. “But you have to teach students how to do that. They don’t have those sorts of executive functioning skills necessarily on their own.”
While teachers play a role in the success of group assignments, it is also the students’ duty to handle the situation responsibly. When tackling a group project, Craig has strategies she keeps in mind to ensure productivity.
“Personally, when I’m choosing my group for a project, I’m going to pick somebody that I know I work better with and I’m not just going to goof off the whole time,” Craig said.
Controlling the aspects that can be done in group projects is important; however, there are always variables that need to be considered when discussing group projects. When assigning collaborative work, Palen takes note of issues that can arise.
“Students today are so involved in so many things that their schedules are impacted and it can be difficult for students to meet physically,” Palen said. “But when I was in high school, there also really wasn’t FaceTime or Zoom.”
Despite the varying opinions of the positive and negative impacts of group work, Palen argues that it remains an essential experience for students to have early on.
“Giving students exposure to working as part of a team prepares them well for their future endeavors,” Palen said. “In any college class that you take, or in any job that you have, you are going to be working as part of a team.”
