Blog Twenty-five - Group Projects (Group Work Part 1)
Because of more initiatives to keep students actively engaged, the way mathematics was taught underwent a drastic change. One of these was the encouragement of group work, which was meant to be an “active learning [activity] so that students can construct knowledge.” as stated in “Investigating the Effectiveness of Group Work in Mathematics,” published in the Education Sciences Journal. Group projects, referring to when students work together in teams with their peers to accomplish some goal or task, are a way to implement collaboration between students in a controlled classroom setting. In a classroom or in the bounds of some school project or assignment, students have guidance for their collaboration and generally also have responsibilities and rules they are required to adhere to.
Group work allows students to be less dependent on their instructors and more self-directed in their learning, giving them the opportunity to both understand the material comprehensively and also develop independent critical thinking skills. By being part of a team, students are enabled to take control of situations and learn how to navigate group dynamics, delegate tasks, and plan out work with other people—all of which are useful skills for their future career endeavors since many jobs require some degree of teamwork.
Moreover, the collaborative aspect of group work can help with math anxiety. Math anxiety, which is the apprehension that some students feel towards mathematics, can be alleviated by having students work together in small groups with supportive environments where they can practice sharing, defending, and building upon their ideas. This, in turn, leads to more self-confidence in the mathematics classroom, which leads to better collaboration, fueling a cycle of self-improvement.
However, while the idea has many benefits on the drawing board, many of its cons stem from the implementation. To start, every student is unique, and not every student has the same amount of motivation. Sometimes, anxious students may be hesitant or reluctant to share their ideas, leading to them being seen as undisciplined or lazy by their fellow groupmates. Many simply do not put in as much effort as their groupmates would like them to or expect from them. Uneven workload distribution seems to be a universal event for many students. One of the best ways to see this is to explore students’ opinions of group work through how they talk about it in their “safe spaces” away from school. For example, with friends, at home, or especially on social media. Networking platforms such as Reddit, for example. When the term “group projects” is searched on Reddit, there is an overwhelming number of rants, grievances, and criticisms about group projects. While social media may not be the most reliable source, it is still an avenue from where many students vent their frustrations, and can provide helpful insight on their opinions.
Furthermore, group assignments require a lot of trust. Trust between students and their peers that they will all contribute, show up on time, do their part, and also that the environment between the group is conducive to collaboration rather than competition. And also, collaborating and sharing ideas in and of itself requires trust. Often, students will not have that level of trust established with their peers, especially with the rebound effects of being used to virtual learning from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of course, implementing group assignments is more than a black-and-white decision. The article, “I’m a Student. Here’s Why Group Work Feels So Unfair,” by high school senior Yun F. Zheng, highlights Zheng’s stress and experience with having to carry the weight of their group members who did not contribute equally, an experience that many students can likely relate to. Zheng proposes, “Assigning only individual work outside the classroom removes the risk of group members being overly reliant on others.” Meeting in the middle between allowing students to go nearly completely independent and completely teacher-directed work helps reap some of the benefits of collaboration while also keeping motivation for everyone to participate higher, as students will likely be more inclined to participate if they know that their individual contributions will be recognized and assessed and that a teacher is watching. Supporting this idea is a paper titled “When Group Work Doesn’t Work” by [cite], where a study reports that groups without teacher supervision generally didn’t use role-assigning and group contracts to their full potential. This makes sense from a student perspective, as students would be less likely to focus on the “technical details” that do not directly relate to the project, likely undermining their necessity. Both the issue of reliability and lack of concrete roles in group projects are places where teacher support would likely enhance collaboration between students.
