Group work: the hardest assignment for university students

Almost every college student should do many much work in university. This often requires greater communication and cooperation between students. A recent survey showed students have different views about group work.

Most group work requires two to six students to work together. The teacher will give students different group works depending on their major and the nature of the course. Presentations are the most common form of group work, and students in almost all disciplines are given this assignment. In addition to this, there are various forms of work such as media work, topic studies, and social practice. A survey among Chinese college students showed that each student had to do an average of six group assignments per semester.

Minghao Chen, business teacher, said, “Group work gives each student the opportunity to express themselves and connect with others. Students gain more practice and output through this, which is more likely to promote thinking than traditional teaching methods. It also develops the students' ability to work and communicate in teams, which is very useful for them in their future job search.”

Sometimes students are free to choose their teammates, and sometimes they are assigned directly by the teacher. The survey showed that more than 45% of students would be concerned that they could not be able to find suitable teammates during the team formation process. Many students were also worried about their teacher-assigned teammates. Amazingly, 88% of students were worried that their teammates would not work or cooperate with them in group work. More than 85% of the students had had arguments or other unpleasant experiences with group members when doing group work in the past. It shows that communicating well with people and finishing homework well is not easy for university students.

Ying Chen, 21, education student, from Sichuan, said, “I don't see the point of group work. Everyone had a different point of view but had to be forced to blend together. The end result was hardly what everyone had in mind. I don't understand why teachers always assign group work to students, and I often feel that it would be more efficient if I do the group work alone!”

“I think teammates in group work can make a big difference. When I work with a friend, I feel very happy because there is no difficulty in communication between us,” said Junyun Li, 19, computer student. “However, when I work with people I don't know well, it is much more difficult, for example, when there is silence during discussions.”

Cindy Lin, media student, 22, said, “I seem to think differently from many people. I enjoy group work because my fellow classmates are very nice and I get on well with them and get a very satisfactory mark at the end. I have also made a lot of new friends through group work.”

According to the survey, more than 55% of students would like group work to be reduced appropriately. This might reduce stress and put students in a better frame of mind for their work. Many respondents said that in group work, members can help to share the work and make progress together, but the larger number of tasks and short time frame often make these benefits difficult to achieve.

students working together