When working on a group project how do you divide up your work. How to keep track of everyone's progress so you don't have 3/4 of the project done only to discover that one of the members has not even started on his piece yet. Basically how to work in groups. This is one thing that many students struggle with and if you don't do it you'll often find group projects where one person did like 90% of the work because nobody knew how to coordinate.
...that doesn't sound helpful, to be honest. My experience with group projects wasn't that nobody knew how to coordinate, but that people didn't -want- to. The person who was content to take a C on the project would just not do anything they were responsible for. The person who wanted an A would end up doing it. The professors had no formal method for checking in with the team, nor any real teeth for those who dodged their responsibilities, so even if it was communicated and the slacker(s) took a grade hit, it wasn't much.
(For reference, I had that happen at least twice in school, where the group of us broke up the work and scheduled check-ins, and by the end of it only I had done my part...though being cynical, as the team missed check-ins with various excuses, I had also done everyone else's because I cared about my grade)
Unlike the real world, where if someone is allocated work, and doesn't do it, a manager deals with it. Professors are not interested in being managers.
That said, it DOES sound useful for the real world, where the incentives are better aligned.
jandrese|4 years ago
lostcolony|4 years ago
(For reference, I had that happen at least twice in school, where the group of us broke up the work and scheduled check-ins, and by the end of it only I had done my part...though being cynical, as the team missed check-ins with various excuses, I had also done everyone else's because I cared about my grade)
Unlike the real world, where if someone is allocated work, and doesn't do it, a manager deals with it. Professors are not interested in being managers.
That said, it DOES sound useful for the real world, where the incentives are better aligned.