Group project

I have a group project due in a month and only two of us out of the group of 7 are seemingly pulling our weight. We’re constantly chasing the others and they wont turn up to meetings and don’t tell us beforehand. They say their doing the work but i have get to see it on the group Padlet. It’s so stressful. Would it be worth contacting my lecturers about this or should I wait since i have a month before handing it in?

Reply 1

Cat Tonge (YSJU Student Ambassador)

Official Rep

9

Original post by Cobbitty22

I have a group project due in a month and only two of us out of the group of 7 are seemingly pulling our weight. We’re constantly chasing the others and they wont turn up to meetings and don’t tell us beforehand. They say their doing the work but i have get to see it on the group Padlet. It’s so stressful. Would it be worth contacting my lecturers about this or should I wait since i have a month before handing it in?

Hi Cobbitty22,

If you are having group work difficulties can be beneficial to contact the course lecturer, I myself have had to do this once. While it did not make any immediate difference, the project was graded individually and I did receive a higher grade than the others in my group as my work was recognized.
Your lecturer may not be able to make an immediate adjustment but they can send out pushes on group work. It could be worth doing if you feel that their involvement is negatively impacting the work.

I hope this helps,
Cat, York St John University Student Ambassador

Reply 2

PhoenixFortune

21

Original post by Cobbitty22

I have a group project due in a month and only two of us out of the group of 7 are seemingly pulling our weight. We’re constantly chasing the others and they wont turn up to meetings and don’t tell us beforehand. They say their doing the work but i have get to see it on the group Padlet. It’s so stressful. Would it be worth contacting my lecturers about this or should I wait since i have a month before handing it in?

There are a couple of actions you can take: 1) contact your lecturer and explain the situation. They may not sympathetic (there will always be people who are difficult to work with in any context), so don't be surprised if they just tell you to keep working. What might help is if you have a list of the tasks each person has been designated (and agreed to), so come the end, you have proof of who wasn't pulling their weight. 2) Ask the lecturer if there is a peer evaluation portion to each participant's mark. If there isn't, and your mark may suffer if the work isn't completed, then you may have to do the work between you and the other person. Not ideal, but beats getting a terrible mark as a result of others' incompetence.

Reply 3

University of Portsmouth Student Rep

Official Rep

16

Original post by Cobbitty22

I have a group project due in a month and only two of us out of the group of 7 are seemingly pulling our weight. We’re constantly chasing the others and they wont turn up to meetings and don’t tell us beforehand. They say their doing the work but i have get to see it on the group Padlet. It’s so stressful. Would it be worth contacting my lecturers about this or should I wait since i have a month before handing it in?

Hiya @Cobbitty22,

Groupwork is something all uni students have to experience, and can be a challenging time when work commitment from each individual is not equal :frown:

What I found always worked best for me was to try to stay in contact with my group once a week and to organise group meetings (sometimes this is required and you need to fill out "Group Meeting Reports"). Make sure you have zoom meetings to stay on top of work and to keep in contact with one another. I found using weekly to-do lists really helped in writing down what was needed for the group task and then all sorting out who would do what individual task, making sure work was distributed fairly.

If things do get out of hand you can email your lecturer to discuss how you are feeling so that they know about the situation. It's okay to feel a little worried about it even if it is a month before handing it in, so speak with your personal tutor as they can help :smile:

I've had it happen twice where at the end of the group work we had to fill out a contribution form and discussed as a group whether we thought we all deserved 100% of the mark, and some students were honest to say that they didn't put much effort in and didn't deserve the whole grade so this may be the case for you.

Keep in contact with them and try stay on top of work, all we be fine. Sam- Official Student Rep :smile:

Reply 4

University of Strathclyde Student Ambassador

Official Rep

14

Original post by Cobbitty22

I have a group project due in a month and only two of us out of the group of 7 are seemingly pulling our weight. We’re constantly chasing the others and they wont turn up to meetings and don’t tell us beforehand. They say their doing the work but i have get to see it on the group Padlet. It’s so stressful. Would it be worth contacting my lecturers about this or should I wait since i have a month before handing it in?

Hey @Cobbitty22

The advice the other student ambassadors have provided is great! It's good that you want to sort this issue now while there's still plenty of time left before the project is due :smile:

I've had to do a lot of group work during my undergraduate degree and unfortunately, things didn't always run smoothly as often not everyone would participate. On one occasion, I emailed my tutor for the module that I was doing the group work for. I explained the situation to them. At the end of the project, the tutor was keen to know how much each student had contributed to the presentation. I learned from my experiences and decided not to let this affect any future group work I would be involved in. I would recommend emailing your tutor as they will want to support you in any way that they can :smile:

I would also suggest having a group meeting on zoom with your other group members immediately to discuss how you're feeling. This way, you and your other group member (who is contributing) can assign what work needs to be done if you're both taking lead roles in the project. I would then have further weekly meetings at a time that suits everybody to see how each member is getting on with their individual tasks.

Hope this helps :smile:

Melissa- Student Ambassador

Reply 5

University of Liverpool Student Rep

11

Original post by Cobbitty22

I have a group project due in a month and only two of us out of the group of 7 are seemingly pulling our weight. We’re constantly chasing the others and they wont turn up to meetings and don’t tell us beforehand. They say their doing the work but i have get to see it on the group Padlet. It’s so stressful. Would it be worth contacting my lecturers about this or should I wait since i have a month before handing it in?

Hi @Cobbitty22,

I agree with much of the advice already given!

Its important to let your lecturer know if you are facing any difficulties within the group so they can help support you if you're disadvantaged.

I would recommend using a platform such as google docs so it is clear who has done what work. If your group members are failing to pull their weight then definitely raise this issue with the lecturer.

Antonia :h:

University of Liverpool - Student Ambassador

Group project

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