'I realize I didn't contribute much': 10+ Group projects that are destined for failure

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Feb 23, 2024 3:00 PM EST

These group projects are teaching students some skills, just not the ones they expected to learn. 

Why do teachers assign group projects? It's a question that countless students of all ages find themselves asking year after year. Teachers were once students themselves. Did they all just have a great time with their own group projects? Or did they think the hardships (ie. trying to schedule a time for 5 people to meet up; realizing the night it's due that no one has worked on the project) were worth it? 

It seems like group projects happen in phases. In the first phase, the students are motivated. Your group will spend several days trying to coordinate a time that everyone can meet at the library for an hour, only to find it's a fruitless endeavor. Then, the group chat will go silent until the week before the project is due. One student will send a message saying something passive-aggressive like, "Has anyone else been working on this project besides me, or does no one else care about passing this class?" Then the most motivated student or two will work feverishly on the group project until it's done. There's almost always one student who will drop the class in the middle of the project, or will just never respond to any questions about it. Unless you have a strong group who cares about their work, these group projects are just a hot mess from start to finish. And yet every year, teachers decide to assign them once again. 

These people shared their own group project frustrations. Then, read about a bunch of great pet names, like one person who shared, "My friend has a hedgehog named Quilliam Shakespeare."

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