Why Group Projects?
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Group projects promote intellectual and social skills and help prepare students for careers in which teamwork and collaboration are critical.

Skills that group projects reinforce:

• Break complex tasks into parts
• Plan and manage time
• Refine understanding through discussion and explanation
• Give and receive feedback on performance
• Challenge assumptions
• Develop stronger communication skills

Group projects can help students develop skills specific to collaboration, allowing students to:

• Tackle more complex problems than they could on their own
• Delegate roles and responsibilities
• Share diverse perspectives
• Pool knowledge and skills
• Hold one another (and be held) accountable
• Receive social support and encouragement to take risks
• Develop new approaches to solving differences
• Establish a shared identity with other group members
• Find effective peers to emulate
• Develop their own voice and perspectives in relation to peers

 

Citation: Teaching Excellence & Educational Innovation, Eberly Center, Carnegie Mellon