<p>So I had a group project that was assigned about two months ago. It was due today. </p>
<p>I was with three other people. Long story short, I did the entire project from start to finish. My group members continuously made excuses as to why they couldn't do their part - and after the 30th excuse, I caved in and just did their work for them. Yesterday we all got together and I told them word for word what to say during our presentation. Today, our presentation went very well. We were engaging, funny, interesting, etc. I'm sure we got an A. </p>
<p>However, I told two people (my Dad and a friend of mine) my situation about a week ago (when I finally finished everything) and they both strongly urged me to make the professor aware of this. I have to turn in a group evaluation next week and they want me to give my group members low ratings and explain that they did absolutely no work. </p>
<p>The project wasn't elaborate or extensive - it took me about 6 hours to complete (spread over a few weeks) and while the principle that they believed their time to be more valuable than mine was upsetting to me, doing all the work didn't necessarily take up TOO much time that I had to sacrifice time spent working on other stuff or anything like that. In the end, there was no real consequence. My friend and Dad still both agree that I shouldn't let them get away with it though. </p>
<p>All I really truly cared about was the grade; and since we did well, I don't wanna necessarily drag them through the dirt and start a whole dilemma the last week of the semester.</p>
<p>Should I mention it in the group evaluation? Or just let it go? </p>
<p>I would mention it in the group evaluation. Even though their overall score will be fine because of your work on the project, it will be lowered by your evaluation of their participation. </p>
<p>This is college, and they should expect to do some part of the work. In high school, this may have been something they did to get the grade, but they need to learn that they can’t do this for the rest of their lives. When they get real jobs in the workforce, their teamwork skills will be severely lacking. Definitely mention it in the group evaluation.</p>
<p>My daughter had the same experience. Her group knew she was a strong writer and cared about her grade and used that to avoid doing their share of the work. Like you, she picked up the slack. She decided to mention it in the evaluation. I would but word to carefully.</p>
<p>Go ahead and put it in the evaluation. That’s the point of the evaluation. You don’t need to get too nasty on the evaluation or anything, but you can mention that you felt you put in more effort than the others as they were unable to complete their portions of the project.</p>
<p>I’m sorry. Group work always seems to go so terribly.</p>
<p>Definitely mention it. We had a huge class project this semester (music) and one of the girls almost never showed up for rehearsal. I ended up carrying the project to some extent. Most people played in one to two songs. I played in 5 out of the 7 (because no one else wanted to play the piano parts even though we had like 6 pianists- i was the only one who “did” rock/pop). I did the entire arrangement of the big finale, which took quite a long time to do and I was on my own because I was the only one that knew how. What i don’t get is how i didn’t get 100% on the peer eval. I mentioned in my peer evals on the others who showed up to rehearsal, who learned their part, who did video editing etc.</p>
<p>Sometimes you just need to live with it and get it done- but that doesn’t mean you should let them go unreported.</p>
<p>My daughter had a similar experience and she mentioned it in the evaluation (she put in specifics - like the time they all agreed to meet in the library at 8 am and she sat there by herself because they all forgot!)</p>
<p>Your dad and his friend are right. I would definitely mention it. It doesn’t have to be an elaborate explanation. I’d write each person a review that looks something like this: “We scheduled x number of meetings and John attended y of them. Although he volunteered to do z for the group, when the agreed upon due date came it wasn’t done, so I (researched, wrote, organized…)” … Make sure to mention they did all show up for the final meeting and that you handed out assignments for the presentation. Your goal isn’t really to knock their grades down, although they deserve it. You managed this project and should get extra points for it. The object isn’t to convey a complaint; it’s to campaign for a higher grade for yourself. Good luck.</p>
<p>Don’t be afraid of being a tattletale. You’re telling the truth. Chances are, your group members won’t know you dished out on them, and even if they do, it’s their grade, not yours. The only caution would be not to go too overboard in the evaluation, but do be honest.</p>
<p>I’m sorry to say this won’t be the last time this happens to you. If you don’t get to choose who’s in your group, you’ll get screwed over by at least one member every time. Either you’ll be stuck with the bulk of the work, or you’ll have to revise someone else’s poor effort, or you’ll have to fend off (or concede to) some controlling type who insists on taking over every aspect of the project and rejects all input. I hate group projects, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one that didn’t turn out to be problematic. I’d love to hear a professor defend them, because I don’t see any value in them.</p>
<p>Seems like everyone agrees! Spill the beans.</p>
<p>My D had a problematic group project but was fortunate enough to have a smart professor who had “checkpoints” where he would assess each persons progress in the group himself. As leader D went to him for advice on how she could best move the project forward. What she learned from the leadership experience was more valuable to her future than most of the class content.</p>
<p>I understand the desire not to rock the boat, and I regret the fact that you did most of the work. But maybe, if you get another chance, you can have a better group experience. If there is a problem seek the profs advice as soon as possible. Dealing with underperforming group members is a fact we all face occasionally, developing a strategy to overcome it is a valuable skill.</p>
<p>Definitely mention it, in objective nonemotional terms. As a prof, when I assign group work I’m well aware of the pitfalls and rely on students to give me insight to the behind the scenes dynamics (even though it’s usually obvious from both previous class performance and the presentation who’s really on top of things). Glad you pulled it off and now know the danger signs so you can fire unproductive group members in the future. In fact, asking about that procedure will be expected by an experienced prof and probably appreciated by a novice one.</p>
<p>This literally JUST happened to me. In fact, it happened to me last fall and I asked for advice on the Parent’s Forum, and a week ago the same thing happened with the SAME person. (Apparently he’s going to finally graduate now, so that’s encouraging)</p>
<p>What I did this time was do all the work but also not. It was a group presentation but she graded us separately, so I made sure the group part looked good (like you did) but didn’t wait for him on the annotated bibliographies (we were supposed to send them together, but goofball never emailed them to me even after I reminded him 2 times).</p>
<p>And most importantly, I laid into it on my reflection, which is what you should do. I told my prof exactly what happened (loser didn’t do a thing except skim the articles I picked out for him and then presented painfully awkward slides) and I told her I felt overwhelmed because I had to do it all. </p>
<p>Base grade of a the project? 3.0. My grade? 4.0. Mr. Lazy’s grade? Idk, but if the base grade is an average between our two grades, he must have gotten a 2.0, which would be quite generous. </p>
<p>So, in the end, YES - tell your professor. They should know who is doing what, and most times they’ll be very angry if students are riding on others’ coattails because, like someone else said, this is college. You’re expected to do your work and do it well, which you clearly do, so hats off for that. </p>
<p>Since the professor is asking, you should state facts.
Don’t think of this as “i am a tattletale”…think about this as “This is what i did for the project and this is what they did for the project. The professor wants to know this as part of the grade. The other students knew this but choose not to do it.”</p>
<p>Why tell what happened? When a professor gives a grade, be it for a test, project or a class, it is like a certification to the outside world about what this student knows. So if s/he gives your groupmates an A on this project, s/he is saying that I can attest that this students knows how to research, synthesize and communicate on a topic. But really all your groupmates know how to do is read something out loud.</p>