(no subject)

[erilyn]

Yeah, cause 10:27pm of the night before we have to hand in the weekly group work is definitely the time to email me your final draft.

WHICH IS CRAP. And I specifically told them not to leave in the Star Trek joke if they used my answer for the first question. Which they did use, except in a garbled form that makes little sense. Just goes to show they aren't listening to anything I say.

I'm not at uni to make friends, I'm not here to pick up after people who seem to want to fail again, I'm not here to help people out who don't have adequate language skills to be doing this degree. This is ridiculous, and if that makes me a bitch, I really really don't care.

Comments

[lilysaid.livejournal.com]

group work is an invention of THE DEVIL.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Indeed. And since the majority of my group do not have English as a first language (and are far far far from being fluent)? I suspect Lou Pearlman was involved.

I'm finding it just that evil.

[withdiamonds.livejournal.com]

Uh, yeah, Ashley had the same problems last year when she was getting her Masters. She just ended up doing most of the work herself, because she wasn't content to get anything less than an A, and hated working with people who were okay with just getting by.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much planning on it - though even so I don't think I'll be getting a good mark. I'll be happy with a pass at this stage, given that they had a 50% fail or conceded pass rate last year.

[runzu.livejournal.com]

*HUG*

[runzu.livejournal.com]

You should tell your group the message in my icon. ;-)

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

It's more laziness and just not having the language skills I think, but that's certainly how I've been feeling.

[vaudevilles.livejournal.com]

I *really* don't understand why tertiary study has group work. It totally sucks for you. And you are totally not a bitch.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

This subject has broken my spirit. I'm not aiming to do well at it anymore - I just want to pass.

[vaudevilles.livejournal.com]

*glues your spirit back together with crazy glue and hugs*

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Is 'I don't give a flying fuck anymore' an improvement or not? *g*

I hope things progress on your house as soon as possible ::hugs::

[julad.livejournal.com]

You're learning valuable life skills, remember? Teamwork, negotiation, communication... conflict resolution. *g* I was nearly homicidal last year over the same thing. I've been doing group assignments at uni for a long, long time and I think it's ultimately about learning survival in a hostile wilderness.

I was lucky in that in one of my courses they actually taught us how to work in groups effectively. Imagine that! They gave us the skills and knowledge we needed to work together before we were assessed on it! The thing I think is completely batshit fucking insane about most group work at uni is that they expect you to magically learn all these life skills that are so very important and essential, but without them actually freaking teaching them.

Erm, end rant. But actually learning about group work was a huge help for me so maybe that's something you could try?

If you've really had it with this situation, you could make a case to your lecturer that for equity or other reasons you should be able to do the work solo. You have to be careful about how you go about this, though. In my experience: ask humbly, but make sure you can address the rationale for the group work and its intended benefits, and give your reasons for not doing it in terms of a university policy that backs you. Because no, you don't have to and shouldn't have to carry other people through their courses, and you're not a bitch if you choose not to.

[erilyn.livejournal.com]

Wow - I'm very impressed that they actually taught you about group work. It is really fucked that they go on about the importance of learning to work within groups, but don't tell us how to go about it.

However for me the biggest problem is less about conflict (though some people aren't pulling their weight, and I'm running out of ways to deal with it) and more that 3/5 of the group are far from fluent in English. They simply can't produce work that's good enough to hand in.

I think I'll end up offering to prepare it every week at this rate - the other native English-speaking student is going to prepare it this coming week, but given his spectacular failure to be useful so far (and this is his second attempt at the subject, yay), I'm not holding my breathe.