By Stacey Wells ‘15

Group projects are a frequent part of everyday high school life. Students are split into different clusters and assigned a collaborative task; whether it is a video project in English or a diorama in biology. Like them or hate them, group projects have been accredited as a positive learning technique.

According to a study done by Caruso and Woolley at Carnegie Mellon University in 2008, group projects help students acquire skills that are useful later on in life. Group projects encourage time management, improve communication skills, and help students conquer difficult tasks. Students appear to benefit greatly from these types of projects. In a study done in 2006 at the Institute of Education at London University, it was found that group work made students more focused on their work and increased the amount of thoughtful discussion.

Many teachers at Sherwood use group projects to further enhance the material and the students’ comprehension. In Dan Soso’s social studies classes, group projects have become a frequent occurrence. Soso assigns many jigsaw projects, where students become experts on one topic and share their information with their group. “It is nice for students to teach each other and transfer knowledge,” said Soso “It also gives appreciation for all the work that teachers do.”

Soso thinks that some students seem to benefit from group projects, while others do not seem to recall the information as well. “It’s nice to try different things [because] people respond to different things,” comments Soso.

In Honors English 10, Abimbola Lawrence also utilizes group projects as a way to learn the material. Teams of students are assigned to create a video, in which they reinterpret and act out a scene from a play. “This enhances what they already know. It gives creative students a chance to let their talents show,” said Lawrence.

Similar to Soso, Lawrence believes that, despite all of its benefits, not all students find group work helpful. “It can be counterproductive for some classes and students, so each person should be assigned a role … and set goals in order to be productive,” said Lawrence.

In contrast to scientific studies and multiple teachers’ opinions, some students still possess negative views about group projects. “It’s nice to get good ideas from others but there usually are other people dragging you down,” said sophomore Steven Witkin. “Besides, most group projects are videos … which take too much time and aren’t that effective.”

Like Witkin, senior Maria Jaxa Claver has mixed feelings on group work. “They can be helpful sometimes, but most times it’s either I feel like I’m doing all the work or I’m not doing enough,” said Claver.

Witkin thinks more in-class work and the ability to choose your own partners would help improve students’ negative views about group work, while Claver thinks teachers should grade students individually so they do not punish everyone if only one person does not do their job.