BombShell's tags:
Zayda, you're a teacher, right?  Someone?
 
Here's my situation.  I'm working on a graduate degree and it's the same group of people where we all go through the program together as a class.  In each class, we are required to do some kind of groupwork and in every group there is at least one, but usually two, people who just don't pull their weight.  Frankly, they are either incompetant or lazy.  I've been advised by some very dear Soulcasters to bring it up to the professor.
 
Here's my question:  as a professor, do you want to hear about the squabbles in every group?  If this is such a common occurrence, I would think that provisions would be made in the syllabus for slackers v. overachievers.  And I also would want my students to deal with it. 
 
On one hand, we're all grown ups and we should be able to work things out by ourselves.  On the other hand, it's not fair for me to settle on a lower grade because certain members of my team don't perform, and it's not fair for me to do all the work because the others are too busy.


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Comments

  • silverwhisper said on Apr 04, 2007....
    i know i suggested that, bombshell, and even though i'm not an instructor, i know several.

    i believe you should make it known not as an excuse but rather as an obstacle that was overcome.

    ed
  • BombShell said on Apr 04, 2007....
    You mean, let her know after the fact?  That's a good idea.
  • silverwhisper said on Apr 04, 2007....
    that's precisely my meaning, yes. the risk in doing it otherwise is that you might look like a whiner.

    ed
  • BombShell said on Apr 04, 2007....
    Yeah, that's exactly what I don't want.
  • Zayda said on Apr 04, 2007....
    Bomb--Does your professor have any provisions set up for how participation in the group work will be addressed? For instance, does he/she have group members evaluate each other then the project is finished? If he/she does, then I might wait until the project is finished and report your problems in the evaluation of the other members.

    I know you don't want to sound like you are whining, but if there is no other way of the professor knowing there are problems, you need to talk to him/her, and I would recommend doing it before the project is submitted and graded simply because it's not fair to you to do all the work and have someone else get equal credit (as in a grade) for it.   If you are going to talk to your professor before hand, make sure you have "evidence" to substantiate your complaint about the other group members not pulling their weight.

    If there are 4 of you in a group, but only 2 people are doing the work, then it shouldn't be simply you that goes to talk to the professor; you and the other person doing all the work need to talk to him/her together. If you are having group meetings, keep a record of the dates you met, the time you spent, and what went on.  This is especially useful to have when you want to talk about problems with the group, but it's even more useful if you have to evaluate group members at the end of the project.

    At the same time, however, the work has to be done and the slack needs to be picked up so your grade isn't affected by non-work by other group members.

    Depending on how the project is set up, the professor may have an inkling that there are group members who are not pulling their weight, but he/she may still need to be informed of what's going on.

    As a personal note, as a professor, I would rather you tell me before the project is submitted so that I could go talk to the people not contributing to the group and explain how such actions will impact their grade.  Or rather talk to your entire group and explain how a group project doesn't mean foisting the work off on other people in the group and getting credit for the work you don't do. 

    And if your professor doesn't have some type of group member evaluation set up where the members of the group evaluate each other, perhaps he/she should think about adding that as a component to the group project in the future.
  • BombShell said on Apr 05, 2007....
    Thanks, Zayda.
     
    Things actually worked out on Tuesday.  It caused me a lot of stress, but it actually came together.  That afternoon, Guy 2 emailed me his and Guy 1's materials.  But it was at work and right before quitting time (when everyone's hair catches on fire and I spend the last half our of every day putting out fires), so I forgot to put the files on my thumb drive.  So I arrived in class without our stuff.  But while the first group was presenting, I managed to hack the internet into my work email account, get the files, and put it all together.
     
    It turns out that Guy 1 actually did a bang-up job on his stuff!  He really put a lot of effort into learning the software (MS Project) and addressing everything required in the case study.  His materials were required by Guy 2 for his part, so they collaborated over the weekend.  It probably seemed natural, when Guy 1 realized he couldn't get everyone's stuff together, to ask Guy 2 to do it.
     
    We all already agreed that I'm doing too much. So, I guess I'm just still miffed at Guy 2 for trying to pawn it off on me.
  • BombShell said on Apr 05, 2007....
    And I think I'll suggest a peer evaluation in the comments section of the course evaluation.
  • silverwhisper said on Apr 05, 2007....
    bombshell, i'm glad that this turned out well after all. :>

    ed

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This is great......
Just about my borring ol' life....
Not to name any names, but at most of the schools I was working for over the past several years, the recycling efforts were completely inadequate. Considering the volume of recyclable materials consumed at schools, and the significance of recycling......

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