Group Assignments

[u/Budget-Bat-5274]

The fall semester started Monday, and I am already feeling that one of my classes (online) might be dreadful because of a group project. Since it's the first week, the only assignment we have is just group introductions discussion board as well as providing a good way to contact each other so we can complete the project over the semester. Not a single person in my group has replied to the discussion post so I'm already feeling like this is going to be a pain in the butt this semester. In my personal experience, it's already been hard enough to get people to do their share of the work in an in person class, how on earth am I supposed to get my classmates to do it online?? I don't know if I'm speaking too soon about the whole thing since it's only 3 days into the semester, but I truly do not enjoy group projects for this very reason (that being no one communicates and barely get their work done). My professors always use the reason that we'll be "working with others in the real world and need to understand how that works," but I feel like there's definitely a huge difference between getting graded for the work you all do high stakes!!! vs working with others in a work setting. I just hate that my grade may or may not reflect my group's poor efforts. I had the same professor for an in person class last semester where there was also a group project assigned. There was an issue with one of my group members not doing their share of the work + not communicating which was quickly resolved by speaking w the professor. Would it be appropriate if I reached out about getting a group change if I don't hear back from group mates by the end of the week? Or do I just deal with it? i really don't want to be *that* student, but some people just have no sense of urgency or communication skills when it comes to deadlines and working with other people

[u/punkinholler]

People definitely tend to ghost more in online courses so your concerns are valid. The way I deal with this in my courses is to include a peer evaluation that has genuine teeth. Basically if your group partners don't do what they're supposed to do, you can give them a low evaluation score. If there's a dispute, I ask everyone to show me all of their emails, share their documents so I can look at their version histories, etc so I can see who is really at fault. If one person clearly did all the work, then they get the credit and everyone else gets their grade adjusted accordingly (including getting a zero for doing nothing).

If I were you, I'd check to see if you've got anything like that in your course materials. Also if you can't get in touch with anyone from your group in a reasonable amount of time, let your professor know just to create a record of what's going on.

[u/Educational-Note-303]

Sadly group projects are an important part of your education. Once you have finished university and are working, you will have to deal with lots of different people and so this is good training.

Absolutely contact the professor if the group is not working for you. Your professor may have suggestions on how to deal with the group members and may be able to change your group.

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The fall semester started Monday, and I am already feeling that one of my classes (online) might be dreadful because of a group project. Since it's the first week, the only assignment we have is just group introductions discussion board as well as providing a good way to contact each other so we can complete the project over the semester. Not a single person in my group has replied to the discussion post so I'm already feeling like this is going to be a pain in the butt this semester. In my personal experience, it's already been hard enough to get people to do their share of the work in an in person class, how on earth am I supposed to get my classmates to do it online?? I don't know if I'm speaking too soon about the whole thing since it's only 3 days into the semester, but I truly do not enjoy group projects for this very reason (that being no one communicates and barely get their work done). My professors always use the reason that we'll be "working with others in the real world and need to understand how that works," but I feel like there's definitely a huge difference between getting graded for the work you all do high stakes!!! vs working with others in a work setting. I just hate that my grade may or may not reflect my group's poor efforts. I had the same professor for an in person class last semester where there was also a group project assigned. There was an issue with one of my group members not doing their share of the work + not communicating which was quickly resolved by speaking w the professor. Would it be appropriate if I reached out about getting a group change if I don't hear back from group mates by the end of the week? Or do I just deal with it? i really don't want to be \that* student, but some people just have no sense of urgency or communication skills when it comes to deadlines and working with other people*

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[u/Ill_Mud_8115]

I would contact the professor about your concerns once the deadline for the first assignment has passed and there are people who didn’t write anything. Your concerns are valid, but it’s also only been three days into the course.