120 replies to this topic

[Ruan Chun Xian]

I suppose the question is do you like to do group work in assignments? Or do you prefer to work on your own? Why?

The reason I'm suddenly bringing this up is that this semester (and I suspect for the rest of my time at university too since I cleverly picked 2 majors that both require a lot of group work) I have at least 1 group work assessment task for each of my 4 courses. The most exhausting of course is my marketing assessment since it's on going for 6 weeks and basically there's a part due every other week so we basically have to meet up every week. Trying to arrange schedule for 5 people with very different uni schedules, most of whom work outside uni, to meet every week, is nigh impossible. Oh, not to mention I have 3 other groups to meet up with as well.

Scheduling issues aside, I kind of have a love/hate relationship with group work. Obviously it's nice to split up the work and when you've got a few more people in your group you can ask about things you don't understand. though if you've ever tried piecing together an essay written in parts by 5 different people you'll know it's very weird...and in the end you kind of have to have a person edit to make sure it doesn't obviously sound like it's written by 5 people - somehow that person ended up being me. But anyway honestly when you do group work, every single time you will have a person who don't pull their weight, in one way or another, to varying degrees. It's natural and sometimes they don't even mean to do it. And when that happens and you realise it obviously then you have step in to do the work - I mean you can't just say, whatever, because it's your performance at stake too.

And the thing with me, as well, is that if I enjoy doing something I put a lot of time and effort into it, sometimes too much . So I kind of have to stop myself from taking over the work too and not do everything my way.

All that being said, I guess I should get used to it. There is rarely a marketing person, it's always a marketing team.

[Mark]

I currently really hate group work because

In my Biology SL lab experiments there are mostly slackers who either
a ) don't work
b ) copy your work
c ) rush through everything
d ) mess up
(Note: my teacher and I are worried about the upcoming Group 4 project, since half the people in Biology SL are still below IGCSE level)

In my History HL there are people who
a ) don't understand/don't want to understand the assignment
b ) don't work
c ) rush through everything
d ) mess up

In Maths SL there is a mix of people who
a ) actually help you understand
b ) show you easier ways of grasping topics (which are not revealed by the teacher)
c ) don't work
d ) rush through everything
e ) mess up

In French B SL there are only 2 others in my group who
a ) can't help since they aren't perfect in French themselves
b ) teach you their mistakes
c ) won't bother
d ) stress you out
e ) mess up

In English A1 there are people who
a ) absolutely confuse you
b ) won't help you because they are trying to compete with you
c ) teach you their mistakes
d ) can't help since they aren't perfect in English literature themselves
e ) rush through everything
f ) bore you with their rambling
g ) mess up

In Economics HL there are people who
a ) don't know anything
b ) rush through everything
c ) don't bother
d ) lead the group into the completely wrong direction
e ) confuse you
f ) go off topic
g ) mess up

My class ***** so group work is pointless. I did however work very efficiently in a group before IB when I worked with different people who actually cared about the work and I found that in a motivated group there is the sense of positive competition (everyone naturally puts in a lot of effort so to not let the group down). If you find such people; stick to them. If you have something similar to my current class - don't bother

[homeroom]

I would agree with HMSChocolate on the love/hate relationship, because it seriously depends on who's in your group, but also what's your role within the group.

If you happen to be stuck with students who have no desire to do well on the group assignment, you basically have to do EVERYTHING. Then again, if you have awesome people working with you, I find that you tend to come up with more innovative ideas and work very efficiently.

I also mention your role in the group, because if you're the "leader", then no matter who you're working with, you'll probably end up doing more work than your coworkers (you have to organize your coworkers, prioritize, delegate jobs, etc.). If you're a follower, then you just have to do your bit! (although you don't have as much say in what you're doing...so there's pros and cons to everything!).

[Mandiloquence]

I also agree about the love/hate relationship. Considering that the people in my classes are VERY competitive, the only time they truly care about their work is during individual assessment. If we work in groups they tend to blame any problems on the group, communication, etc. Another down side I've found to group work is that I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and when something isn't done properly, I go back and re-do it myself.
Not to say that group work can't be beneficial...if you have a good group.  

[bluegoddess51791]

For me, I completely HATE working in groups. I feel like it's way too much work, especially when the project requires meeting outside school. The IB kids in my school live all over. It takes forever to compromise and even when we do, someone still doesn't show up . It's very frustrating. However, when I work alone, I only have to meet up with myself, and I'm always there .

[__inthemaking]

I love group work .
I guess it all depends on who you're working with, but my best friends are all really hard working and definitely don't slack and let the team down. And obviously I tend to always work with my best friends lol.

Group work makes things more fun..less monotonous and I tend to work harder in group work because I don't want to let down my group. So I actually DON'T procrastinate and get everything done with plenty of time..whereas when I work on my own, I don't work on it as hard/soon. So group work motivates me to work harder..it's also an excuse to go over to each other's houses and chill..after working we can have fun haha.

[QueenSara]

I just feel like adding my reply: I hate group work.
Sure there are pros with working together with classmates (the job usually gets done quicker, you learn to collaborate with others etc.), however the cons do overweigh that. I really prefer working on my own since I've got kind of a strong will and high self-value; working in groups I'm likely to get into trouble because I cannot accept that other people's less great ideas will conquer mine out. Working with less ambitious people is also very annoying, because it is hard to convince them that the work is important. Well, haven't really made a list of disadvantages, but there are lots of other things to bring up here too.

[syrianstar]

I also agree with the love/hate relationship with group work.

It actually depends on a lot of things, like who is on your group and what assignment you are doing. If it's a good subject and the people in your group are great hardworking people, who won't ditch meeting to go shopping or something and who actually come prepared to do their part, then group work can be great.

However when you enter the group where everyone is there only because they know at the end of the day you will end up doing the work because you understand it the most and then they end up chatting about last night's soccer while you feverishly write up an essay to hand in under their names too then.....well things get bad.

This happens to me a lot and it's driving me nuts! I also hate it when there are group classwork assignments to do and everyone quickly splits into the same groups they've split in since like 4th grade so that they won't have to be with this or that person....and then at the end some poor person is  left on their own as always. I always feel sorry for these people; there's a girl in my class who's always left out and I've been in here group in almost every subject since the beginning of the year   It's actually wearing me down!

All I can say that in my class.......I hate group work!

[Lan]

personally i disliked group work. first, there is some lazy people who just doesn't do the work and they don't care about it. second, the disagreement among the group members could delay the work precess. i mean, if you  do get some people who actually cares and do the work, they might just take completely charge and boss you around. trust me, that's not fun. so group work ..that's definitely a nay.

[Mr. Shiver]

I work better alone. I don't like compromising my ideas. Plus I'm extremely lazy so I usually end up stressing the rest of my group out a lot, even though I do genuinely want to contribute.

[Mark]

I once heared ``2 heads are better than 1´´ and since our group 4 project started yesterday I have found hope into that quote again. I am generally good (for my IB1 peer standards, i'm currently in the top 25%) however, 2 heads are better than one. I am in a group of 5 and 3 of the members are reliable; 1 of them gets generally higher grades than me, and the other one gets generally lower grades than me, but I found that both of them could give very good contributions and our group 4 team appears to flourish already in the planning states. No better how good you are, 2 heads are ``Generally´´ better than 1 (there are some extreme cases where a candidate who is predicted +30 points is better off alone than with an IB candidate of >16 points

[thatgirl]

I dislike group work. I feel I work better alone, because when I'm in a group and almost everyone is too lazy to do anything it's contagious, and my classmates are usually like that.

[missrunway]

i have to say nay. currenly i'm like 2 weeks away from finishing grade 7, and this year its like some ppl do the work, others don't care cuz they know that the other ppl in heir group will finsh it for them. the joy of single gender

[Lozza_55]

Nay
Unless its tok

[Kristen]

nay for vast majority of subjects, excluding a few...e.g. tok

[deedoz]

i dont really like group work because usually if we work in groups we split up into the same  groups in every class
i either end up with the same person who i think doesnt enjoy working with me for some reason (or maybe its just my imagination playing games on me)
OR i end up in a group where i worry the work wont be perfect so i end up doing it myself!!
This is to the exception of some classes like TOK where it could be fun to work in groups especially in debates and stuff like that!!

[syrianstar]

deedoz, on Jun 21 2008, 10:51 PM, said:

i dont really like group work because usually if we work in groups we split up into the same  groups in every class
i either end up with the same person who i think doesnt enjoy working with me for some reason (or maybe its just my imagination playing games on me)

I think it's just your imagination playing games on you.

[deedoz]

syrianstar, on Jun 22 2008, 12:23 PM, said:

I think it's just your imagination playing games on you.

yeah possibly....the effects of IB  

[circusmind]

Ewwie. Group work.

I'm not an advocate for group work. I'm too much of a control freak and a perfectionist!

[supbhang]

Group work can be either really, really good or really, really bad! There is nothing inbetween  
Personally, I like group work. In my opinion, there has to be a group leader, someone who organizes the group. He/she has to manage the time and the due date, organize the work that has to be done, push the other group members, take notes of each meeting etc.

I found it really hard to work in a group with an absolute democracy. The working atmosphere might be a little better, but I think that the system with one leader is more successful.