The bell rings as you make it to fifth period, your worst class of the day. You know absolutely no one. You take your seat as the teacher looks at the class with a grin, ‘Class project today kids! Go find two other people to work with!’
The bell rings as you make it to fifth period, your worst class of the day. You know absolutely no one. You take your seat as the teacher looks at the class with a grin, ‘Class project today kids! Go find two other people to work with!’
Your heart practically stops in your chest and your stomach fills with butterflies and your palms get sweaty and the feeling of nausea invades you and all your thoughts start pounding against the walls in your head.
This is a common occurrence with the concept of group or partner projects.
According to the Academic Anxiety Research Center, there are 4 types of school-related anxiety: Physiological, cognitive, behavioral, and social.
Social anxiety specifically is what is activated in this scenario. People who experience social anxiety become anxious over embarrassment easily. This embarrassment comes from having to go up to another student they don’t know.
In addition to the mental effects, there are numerous other negative effects. The group itself can cause problems even if a student knows the other people.
Group work can cause conflict between group members, unequal participation, and can be time-consuming, according to innderdrive.co.uk.
Everyone has a life outside of school that they would like to attend to. Whether that be sports, family time, work, or even just a period of relaxation. Throwing in a group project makes it difficult to coordinate due to everyone’s differing schedules.
In a study done at the Murdoch University of Law, they assigned a group project to 120 students. At the end, they were given a survey. 75% of the students disagreed with the idea that group work caused them to receive higher marks than if they were to do it themselves (thedailytexan.com).
So not only does group work affect students’ mental state and their time, but it also affects their overall grades. Especially amongst honors students, grades mean everything, which could add a new level of stress.
As an honor student myself, I can agree with all the facts presented in this article. I once had a group assignment in which my partner refused to do their assigned portion of the project. The next thing I knew, my project was turned in two weeks late. The anxiety and stress over this project were physically and emotionally exhausting. I had no clue if my grade would be affected by the arrogance of another student.
Students all across the globe attend school in an attempt to expand their minds, but with the detrimental effects of group projects, one could say their brains are shrinking.
Anxiety disorders affect 31.9% of teens according to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. And group projects can make any student a part of that percentage.
So, for the betterment of everyone involved, I believe it’s time to officially expel group projects.
