Navigating the Waters of the University Group Project

Group projects are hard to manage sometimes, from a difficult member to a tough project. Here are some tips for making the dreaded into success.

Doing group projects is an essential component of the university experience - for better or worse. Making sure everyone's doing their fair share and that all components of the assignment are turned in on time can be challenging. But university group projects can be a success if you know what to do. Here's how to navigate the waters of the university group project.

Evenly Assign Tasks

As soon as you get the assignment, make sure that everyone in the group knows what's expected of them and what the due date for the completed project is. If everyone's on the same page from the beginning, this will make it much simpler to address challenges as they crop up later on.

In most group projects, one person typically becomes the leader of the group, but make sure this person isn't assigned the lion's share of the work. Group projects are, after all, for a group - make sure that everyone has a fair share of tasks to complete, so everyone feels like they have a stake in the group's success. If you're using Course Hero to access study resources, you can get a Course Hero Refund after the assignment is turned in.

Get Help From The Professor

Course Hero lets you preview a course before you enroll so you have an idea of how challenging the assignments will be. If your group is falling behind or if you have a question about the assignment, don't wait until the night before it's due to ask your professor for help. Make sure to keep track of your Course Hero membership and get a refund if you don't need an annual membership.

If some people in the group aren't doing their fair share, you can also talk to your professor so they know what's going on and can grade each member of the group accordingly. You should also talk to the professor if you suspect someone in the group might be cheating.

Have Your Group Meet Regularly

Try to meet once or twice a week for the duration of the assignment, so everyone can touch base and keep each other posted on how their portion of the group project is coming together. Practice meets, away games, and other homework can make lining up schedules a challenge. One way to schedule is to create an online poll with several different time options, and pick the one that gets the most votes.

Course Hero can help you access study resources to help make your group project a success. If someone in the group can't make it to the next scheduled meeting, you can post a recap of what the group talked about so no one falls behind. After the class is over, you can get a Course Hero refund if you don't need all of these features anymore.

Reduce Stress

If the group project is for a final exam - or is the final exam - there's no question that the pressure is on. But you can reduce stress for yourself and the group by studying smarter, not harder.

Believe it or not, there's no need to put a ton of hours into making detailed notes - all you need to review is the essential topics that are expected to be covered in the final. You can ask your professor for help with this if you're not sure, but you can also check Course Hero to see what students who've taken the class in the past have to say about what their experience was like. If you don't find what you're looking for, get a Course Hero refund once the final is over - then sit back, relax, and enjoy your break.