If you have read this blog before you know that I am working on getting my MBA. I have 13 weeks left and I will be DONE! In undergrad I was a marketing major. During the beginning of my undergrad years I found out that professors love to put students into groups. I have heard the saying "Working in groups will help you prepare for the workforce" too many times to count. So in undergrad I worked part time and was involved in several things so working in groups could be a little challenging. However, most group members lived close so it wasn't too bad. Some of the projects I had to do were really involved so working in groups helped divide the workload a little.
So now I am in grad school and some of the professor still believes working in groups in beneficial. Well let me tell you-it is a pain in the ass. The graduate school that I go to has two campuses that are about 50 miles apart.. A lot of the classes also alternate which campuses they are being held and some are always offered at one campus. This causes a lot of students to have to travel to attend classes. So doing group projects and presentations while living an hour or more away can be a challenge.
Of course you have the internet to correspond with but you can only do so much. Some projects need to be done together because it is hard to divide up the material. Even if you can do it apart, it takes someone willing to organize everyone’s part and deleting sections that are repetitive. This can be a time consuming job.
Bring into the mix having a full time job and attempting to have a life. At this point groups majorly suck!
Well this semester both classes require groups. The first one actually picks the groups for you. Grand! That should be a ton of fun trying to come up with a paper and presentation with a group of people I don’t no (NOT!)!
The other class had us pick our groups. Well I don't know anyone in this class because it was an elective class and most of them are getting their Masters in Human Resources. So the two guys beside me asked me to be in their group. I said okay-what else was I going to do? After asking their names I found out that one lives an hour away and other lives an hour and a half way. Again, great!
We get our first assignment. It is a one page summary of a software system. Why does this need to be done in a group?? How do you split up a one page summary? Ridiculous that this would even be assigned as group work. And of course the professor gives us less than week. We can't meet before class because everyone is trying to get their after work. We can't do it after because the other two people are already getting home so late. So I just sucked it up and did it without being asked. I figured might as well get it out of the way and maybe it will get me off the hook for the next one and they can do it.
But back to my original point about professors assigning group work to simulate the workforce. Bull! If my employer wants me to do team or group work at work, fine-no problem. The difference is that is my job and what I am paid to do. I am on their time I will do what they ask. Time is allotted for us to work together for a project or presentation. However, trying to get 3+ people together to work on a school project outside of work who have families and are working full time can be a huge challenge. What ends up happening is one or two people do the majority of the project while the whole group gets the credit including the freeloaders.
However, I do agree that groups can be beneficial in large projects and that taking a combination of people can make for a better project and good learning experience. But a 1 page summary paper??
So sorry about my rant. I think these 13 weeks are going to be long ones!
