Group projects are a thing every student has to do eventually. It is a way schools try to promote cooperation with students or make classrooms more lively and fun. But they rely on the engagement and involvement of every student, which can sometimes bring issues. How do Prairie students face these challenges?

Group projects serve many purposes. Previously mentioned connection building and environment building are just a few examples. They also help students work on bigger work than they’d usually be given on individual assignments, getting them used to bigger and sometimes harder tasks. They also have some setbacks, though. Some members of a group project may do too little, too much, nothing at all, or many things wrong. They may fail to communicate with other group members, send pieces of their work late or past due, or become over controlling and not allow any other members to support the project.

Some students choose to take matters into their own hands. “I give ’em,” Sophomore Lucy Kartchner said in response to how she gets through group projects with bad partners. “Er, I let them do at least a small section of the work themselves, but I’ll take the majority of the work so I can ensure that it’s done properly.”

Students may feel forced to put more work on themselves in worries their partners will not do it or won’t do it well. Students put more pressure on themselves to do partners sometimes doing nothing. But when a group is good, group projects can grow students greatly. Many students prefer group projects over solo ones, enjoying the advantages they bring and accepting its drawbacks.

There can be other solutions to issues with groups. “Id find alternatives that’s not group projects,” Junior Kaylee Newton said to what she’d change about group projects. “Or maybe just make rules more strict on group projects.”

Whether you like or hate group projects, they have their advantages, like bringing classrooms together and efficiently tackling bigger than normal assignments. But the issues they bring are also of talking point, and there are ways teachers should always allow to fix them. Things like switching partners, doing alternative assignments, or harsher rules for project members may bring a more smooth and fun experience for everyone involved.