There are a few things a professor can say that will automatically make me fear taking a class. For example, “This class is not curved,” or, “I expect half of you to fail or drop out of my course,” or the awful “The final is cumulative.” 

But in my opinion, nothing is worse than the dreaded “This is a group project.”

I understand why professors assign group projects. Often the task at hand is too difficult for one person to do on their own, and forcing students to work together means we have a better chance at doing well on the project (unlikely). Working with other people is also — sigh — a life skill, and group projects supposedly teach us how to work in groups effectively.

Except that, in my experience, they really don’t. The reality is that most of the time group projects result in one or two people doing most of the work, while the other team members don’t do anything, if they show up at all. The only thing group projects do really well is reinforce why I don’t like working on a group project.

The thing is, we aren’t socially underdeveloped preteens anymore. Learning how to work with and get along with people you don’t necessarily like is an important life skill. But if you haven’t learned how to do that yet at this stage of the game, you’re going to have to figure it out on your own.

In college, especially a STEM-based school like Iowa State, there are going to be assignments and projects that you can’t do on your own. You will need to reach out to other people and — wait for it — form study groups in order to succeed.

But the difference is that you are the one taking the initiative and forming YOUR OWN study groups, instead of getting stuck in a pre-assigned one with people who may or may not care about their education. And in my opinion, that is the most important lesson; to succeed, YOU have to be the one to take that extra step, even when it means getting help from other people.

So to professors here at ISU and across the country, I implore you to do the right thing and end the plague upon students known as group projects. Instead, assign us projects that will require us to collaborate, but allow us to make our own decisions about study groups. I guarantee it will make all the difference.