Whoever invented group projects should be shot. They may be easier for the professor to grade, but they are awful for the students.
In one of my classes this semester we are doing research on cardiovascular disease in children. Our ONLY formal assignment is a group project in which we have to do a paper and a power point on a given topic, and then present in front of the class.
We originally had 5 group members: 1 dropped the class, 1 has done nothing, and the other 3 of us have done everything. So this girl that has done nothing, we'll call her Jill, has literally done nothing all semester. I haven't even seen her in class since the first day our group met in September. We present at 10am tomorrow morning and she e-mailed an imcomplete portion of her part of the paper at 7:47 this evening. Reading over her paper I noticed that none of her facts are correct (I have actually already written her portion of the paper, she just doesn't know that), there are no citations and she is now whining and complaining to me via text message that she needs to be on the same page as all of us.
Here are the lists of excuses I have gotten over the semester:
1. There was a death in her family. (e-mailed to me 2 days after our group met)
2. She was up north over Thanksgiving
3. She misread my e-mail and didn't realize she was suppose to e-mail me her portion of the paper.
4. She's been having health issues and has been in and out of the hospital 7 times this past month.
Sad. I almost feel bad, until I put it all together and realize these are CLASSIC excuses! If you're going to lie, at least put some thought into it. Oh wait, instead of thinking up excuses, just write the paper!!!!!!
