Teacher: "Time to begin our group project. Make sure you know all the members of your group and I will assign the task in just a few minutes."
Collective Group of Students: "Ugh!"
This is a common interaction that occurs in not only schools all across this country, but it extends to the collegiate level as well. I, personally, was given a project that could be group based with up to four people just a couple weeks ago and chose to do all the work myself, rather than put in the effort to give someone else a grade and make my life more difficult as a result. I am of the thinking that I can do better work than the majority of the people in my class, so why should I have to make specific meeting times and go out of my way just so I end up doing the same amount of work if I wasn't in a group?
This should not be the common way of thinking when it comes to learning in groups. Instead of taking the generic, "group work" approach, we should be incorporating the ideals of cooperative learning. Face value, these sound as if they are very similar, if not exactly the same. That is, until you begin to dig deeper and discover the inherent and essential differences between the two.
Nobody enjoys working with people that don't put in effort and they certainly don't like feeling unimportant to the group either. The idea of cooperative learning fixes both of those with one simple concept. Interdependence. No one can do the work on their own, they MUST rely on the other people in order for the project or task to be done successfully and efficiently. It is key to delegate certain people have certain roles that include, but are not limited to: spokesperson, manager, timekeeper, not taker, etc. Of course, each of these roles can be modified, added, or removed, depending on the specific project or situation.
Instead of viewing the group as a random set of people that you have no interest in working with, why not turn the tables on the students and make them become a team. A football team cannot win with one player, the offensive line must be in sync in order to give the quarterback time or open holes for the running back. Likewise, the quarterback can't throw it to himself and be successful, he must have a rapport with his wide receivers so that they can catch the ball and move it down field. This is, ideally, how the cooperative learning set up would work. A fluid machine that, even in the face of adversity, will be able to overcome and produce a winning product. We need to be pushing this type of "group work" much more than the current style and the changes in overall quality of the outcome is likely to skyrocket!