Are university group assignments a necessary evil?

Australian Shadow Minister for Education Julian Leeser has called on universities nationwide to ditch group assignments.

But others say they are a necessary part of university teaching.

Leeser’s call for change speaks to the mixed opinions of Australian students, as universities across the country are still using group projects.

His outlook sits among a shifting academic and professional climate, leading to conflicting views on what a university degree should set out to achieve.

In a speech at the University Australia Solutions Summit last month, Leeser called on university leaders to remove group assignments from their assessments.

“They hate them,” said Lesser, referring to the outlook of university students on group assignments.

“There is always that student who does the work, and that student who reaps the benefit. It diminishes the role of the individual,” he said.

Leeser’s reasoning is that while collaboration should still be taught at universities, such “soft skills” should not be the subject of assessments.

“Rethink assessments by focusing on whether we are truly and fairly assessing individuals on the basis of their individual performance,” he said.

He warned that due to the unfair and sometimes freeloading nature of student participation in group assignments, they may cheapen degrees, bringing into question their credibility.

“Unless there are compelling reasons or exceptional circumstances, I am calling on you to get rid of group assignments,” he said to universities.

Bachelor of Professional Communications student Joshua Whitford expressed similar views to Leeser about group assignments.

“They're a mixed bag really. Some are OK and other times they can be annoying. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t dread them a little bit,” Whitford said.

Group assignments are something that Whitford has become accustomed to seeing in his degree.

“Most if not all of my classes have some sort of group assignment or activity,” he said.

For Whitford, group assignments are something he simply has to cope with.

“They’re not something I really enjoy doing but at the end of the day, if that's what I have to get done to get my degree then so be it,” he said. 

“If I had the choice to avoid them then I would.” 

Nevertheless, there are still supporters of group assignments who feel they have a place in the educational landscape.

Pro-Vice Chancellor of Southern Cross University, Professor Thomas Roche, incorporates group assignments into his institution's assessments as part of an authentic practice-based approach.

Roche says that the role of degrees is to equip students through not only an academic understanding of content but also with an ability to work well with others.

“The reality of life and work is that much of it involves interacting with others, working with  others to achieve goals and navigate social situations,” Roche said.

At his institution, they design group tasks to mirror professional environments where collaborative skills are essential.

He said that Leeser’s view of group assignments fails to understand what university degrees set out to achieve.

“Leeser was proposing a solution that was not particularly beneficial to student learning, their careers or life beyond the academy,” he said.

Roche said that without imparting the knowledge of how to collaborate with others, a university degree loses much of its value.

“Ask yourself, would you want to be attended by a nurse in a hospital who couldn’t work with other medical professionals to deliver health care? Definitely not,” he said.

His view behind framing group tasks is to ensure the criteria is clear, to ensure equal student participation.

“In practice, poor group learning design can be seen when the conditions that make collaboration meaningful are missing,” he said.

A study from the IBM Institute for Business Value found that executives say generative artificial intelligence (AI) will shift employer values from content knowledge to soft skills such as problem solving and collaboration.

The same study states that over half of surveyed executives believe most current employee skills will become obsolete by 2030.