Illustration of three students working on building a model bridge while a fourth plays games

Illustration by Marcos Calo; Debate photos courtesy of families

Should Teachers Assign Group Projects?

December 6, 2021

Class, for our next project, we’re going to break into groups. Some students get excited when their teacher says those words. Others may feel like hiding under their desks.

Those in favor of group projects say working together helps kids prepare for life after school. It teaches them to consider other points of view and make compromises to help get the job done. Others say it’s important for kids to learn to solve problems as a team by dividing responsibilities.

But group projects can be stressful for kids who are more comfortable working alone. And many kids point out that these projects often aren’t group efforts at all. For example, one student might dominate the group, leaving the others without much of a chance to contribute. Some students say it’s not fair for everyone in a group to get the same grade when the work often isn’t divided equally.

Here’s what two of our readers think.

Group projects can help you grow as a person. Working in groups is important because it can improve your ability to communicate and collaborate with others. Having those skills will help you succeed in the future.

Working on group projects has definitely helped me. It has taught me that people are different and don’t have the same opinions. Bringing together a lot of different, great ideas can help make the project so much better.

Working on group projects often leads to division instead of teamwork. Having to work in a group can cause arguments about how the project should be done, which can make it take longer to finish.

Sometimes, certain people end up having to do all the work while the rest of the group does nothing. That happened to me and my friend when I was in fourth grade. Another time, I was in a group and never got to share my ideas, because everyone else spoke over me.