Group projects

"Tristan" (casselts) 11/14/2018 at 13:30 • Filed to: None

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Is it just because I’m smack in the middle of my thirties and finally getting my degree that I feel like all the other students around me are dumb as rocks? Every single group project has been me organizing it, me doing the bulk of the work, me collecting half-assed work from teammates the night before it’s due, me re-doing all of their work and merging it into one document, and me submitting it. These people don’t know how to form a proper sentence, don’t know how to cite sources, don’t know the most basic of Excel formulas, don’t know how to merge Word documents together, and absolutely, positively cannot assess a situation and get shit done. I could understand if this was some fly-by-night community college, but this is Oregon State University.

Am I just a bitter old grandpa looking down on the next generation, or are they really as f*cked as I think they are? I wonder who the hell ties their shoes for them.

Rant over... I feel better now.

William Byrd > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 13:41

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42 here and I did what would equate to a non-academic (but similarly organized) group project a year or so ago with a mix of business and government folks.

Sadly this phenomenon translates to whatever age you are (we had a mix of late 20s/early 30s up to 60s) and I swear that if I hadn’t taken the time to pull it all together (AND brief it) it would have never have happened.

Only advice is to push through, maybe educate some people along the way (insofar as they willing) and get it done.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 13:42

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you forgot “constantly makes jokes, cause all but one person to stop working.”

that was me.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 13:44

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im pretty sure its them

i mean.. im in my mid thirties and barely educated.. and i think they’re dumb as rocks

i also think management is dumb as rocks

what im saying is... they are all destined for management

Klaus Schmoll > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 13:46

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That’s exactly why I stopped assigning group projects almost c ompletely. I’ve seen lazy asses getting dragged through by others and still getting their credit a little too often. 

WilliamsSW > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 13:49

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You forgot the person who is such a mess, the project work actually moves faster when they’re *not* there.

And yeah, I’m a Gen Xer - my generation is just as bad (they all are).

Tristan > William Byrd 11/14/2018 at 14:01

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I can’t stand sitting around incessantly talking about how to do something. I’m known to leave work meetings while people are trying to formulate a course of action for the task at hand to go out and just do the task and get it done. 99% of the time, it’s easier and faster to just do it myself rather than try to talk someone else through doing it. I’m not going to spoon-feed a grown adult Excel formulas when they had the same prerequisites I had, including TWO classes about how to use Excel.

Tristan > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 11/14/2018 at 14:01

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Thankfully this is an online class, so I don’t have to see these people in person.

Tristan > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 11/14/2018 at 14:03

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I mean, I dropped out of high school , got my GED, then dropped out of college in my  early twenties and joined the military. That’s a resume for a dumb-as-rocks person, and I think these kids are dumb as rocks.

Tristan > Klaus Schmoll 11/14/2018 at 14:04

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You’re my hero. Every professor that assigns a group project gets a mark-down on their review from me.

Tristan > WilliamsSW 11/14/2018 at 14:05

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ToyotaFamily > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:12

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Group projects for online classes are horrible.

My girlfriend had a 12 week long project that was to be submitted last week. 2 members of the 5 hadn’t turned in anything until literally an hour before it was all due.

A week later professor emails group and said everyone was receiving separate grades because the  two members had plagiarized everything. 

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:12

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pretty much same same.. dropped out when i was 16... would have joined the military but my dad was deadset against it (he served in the troubles) but as it turns out i probably wouldnt have made the cut... turns out ive only got one good eye... im right handed and left sighted and as such cant see shit through a scope

got myself a couple vocation specific diplomas and certifications since

but thats about it

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:15

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I honestly don’t think it’s an age thing. It’s a human thing. What you describe is basically every work group project I’ve worked on. Trust me it’s even worse when you do a ton of the work to clear up a mess, and some other team actually gets all the congratulations and rewards for it.

I’ve been hounding someone for a very high level breakdown of spending from another group since Monday. I just heard back from them 2 days later – and they just gave me a multiple page download of individual line items going “well this is what our system has”. You’re not a monkey trained to press a button – it’d be cheaper to get a monkey to do that. You’re a qualified human being paid big dollars to be able to analyze and make more sense than “this is what the system gives”. AARRGGGH. So now I’m sitting here wasting time fuming about it instead of doing someone else’s job for them. Thank you for the opportunity!

WilliamsSW > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:16

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I LOL’d (literally). True story - in grad school (MBA), I had a group project that took the whole trimester. We were 1 person short, so the prof dumped a woman in with us.

She came to *one* group meeting, and spent all of that meeting complaining about her love life (quite sordid), other personal problems, and generally just whining. After that, she just came up with a litany of excuses whenever we met, but said she “would get her part done”. We eventually just gave up and did the whole project without her.

Shortly before it was due, she apparently realized the problem, and tried to do the whole project on her own.  We ended up getting a decent grade, she did not (I think the prof felt sorry for us).

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:20

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Where is token hot girl/guy? We always had one hotty who didn’t do any work but was welcome because it made us engineers feel cooler since there was a cool person on our team.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:21

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I was the only person in my senior design group who could talk in front of other people. SMH. Our audience was our professor, nobody else.

Tristan > ZHP Sparky, the 5th 11/14/2018 at 14:22

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I suppose it’s similar for me at work. Our organization is government-run, so as the economy has boomed recently our wages have not kept pace with the civilian sector and getting wage increases for government jobs is a thing mired in red tape that will take ages to happen. Thusly, about 60% of our workforce has left in favor of high-paying private sector jobs. I’ve been completely swamped every night at work, and a couple of weeks ago I had a rash of days where half my shift was devoted to cleaning up messes the other shift had left because they were doing half-assed work. We had a stern come-to-Jesus meeting where it was stressed that we don’t have the manpower to do things half-assed, and it’s been better, but I feel like my remaining coworkers are only still there because they’re too lazy to get jobs somewhere else.

Tristan > WilliamsSW 11/14/2018 at 14:24

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Sounds about right. I’ve emailed professors telling them I’m taking peoples’ names off of projects for lack of contribution before. No free rides here.

Tristan > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 11/14/2018 at 14:25

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Beats me... It’s an online class. I’d probably jump off a bridge if this was in-person.

Tristan > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 11/14/2018 at 14:27

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No growth happens in the comfort zone! But, you don’t go to college for the benefit of others, I go to get shit done and pick up a piece of paper with my name on it in the end.

Chariotoflove > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:29

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I learned a hard lesson from showing up to genetics lab late the first day. I got grouped with the last two people there. They spent all their time in bickering and posturing. I think they were perversely courting each other. somehow, but all they did was waste my time. I ended up doing the entire project on my own, including coming to the lab at 2:00 in the morning to finish a stint of work that neither of them could be bothered to do.

WilliamsSW > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:30

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Yeah - we did not put her name on the project.  IIRC we told her but not the professor (but this was 18 years ago, my memory is fuzzy).

GLiddy > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:40

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This is just how it is. I went back to school at 26 to get my engineering degree. Despite being introverted and definitely not outgoing, I found myself having to take over most every group project. I don’t know if it was a function of intelligence, experience or maturity. It just seemed to be the case.

I’m still trying to understand how the world works. I’ve worked with brilliant people in my life and I’ve worked with people who seemingly made it through college without learning a damned thing. FWIW. (Oh, my school experience above was 30 years ago...things haven’t changed.)

Tristan > GLiddy 11/14/2018 at 14:50

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I think you may be on to something ( intelligence, experience,  maturity). It’s that whole “I feel young until I hang around young people” thing. I’m pretty sure if 34 year old me met 20 year old me, I’d be forced to slap myself upside the head. 

ranwhenparked > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 14:55

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I had some professors that would ask students to read aloud portions of the textbook and/or other assigned reading for the class. That was often cringy enough, group projects were a whole other level. There were any number of people that seemed like they shouldn't have been able to make it through high school, but, there they were at a university. 

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Tristan 11/14/2018 at 15:35

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It was the same way when I was going to college [redacted] years ago. Most of the people are lazy idiots, and the one or two competent people in a group get to do everything for the incompetents.

Khalbali > Tristan 11/15/2018 at 10:16

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It’s because you’re doing it all. Group projects are a game of chicken to see who takes charge first and then everybody else does as little as possible. 

Tristan > Khalbali 11/15/2018 at 13:33

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False. I’ve tried the alternative. It just doesn’t get don e and I end up doing the whole project the night before it’s due.