“Let’s break into groups and work on this assignment.”

Hearing the professor utter these words during class can make even the most friendly face in the room groan in desperation.

What typically runs through students’ minds at the mention of a group assignment is the usual list of gripes. Being social on a dreary day, vocalizing thoughts and opinions or acknowledging that the wheels are turning whatsoever is, for some, too much to handle.

Other people may find themselves feeling the exact opposite. These students are usually the ones who participate most often during class discussions and dread the thought of carrying the weight of a group composed of wet blankets.

Either way, those who truly enjoy group work in or outside of class are few and far between. Most students rarely acknowledge the benefits that group assignments offer to the learning process, and would much rather consider group assignments a favorite form of torture amongst professors.

The Global Development Research Center, an online research organization dedicated to the processes and productivity of knowledge, believes quite differently.

The GDRC highly endorses a process called “collaborative learning,” which can be defined as, “the grouping and pairing of learners for the purpose of achieving a learning goal,” or, in other words, group work.

The term “collaborative learning” could best be described as “a relationship among learners that requires positive interdependence, individual accountability, interpersonal skills, face-to-face interaction and reflecting.”

One of the best benefits collaborative learning offers to students is their own unique conceptual framework of the material, and does not rely solely on text’s or expert’s opinion.

The benefits of group work are endless. Besides developing great oral and social communication skills, students also develop critical thinking and real-world problem solving skills.

Perhaps the biggest fear among students concerning group work is the problems they may encounter with their fellow group members. Finding the right words to tell a group member that their work is sub-par could be difficult.

“I feel comfortable being paired up with people I know, rather than being randomly put into groups,” said Katie March, a junior elementary education major. “When I am allowed to pick my own group members, I feel like I can rely on my group more and wouldn’t feel as awkward confronting them about pulling their weight on a specific assignment.”

Whether students are placed into groups randomly or pick their groups, real-world problem solving strategies are needed to divide up the assignment, set guidelines for completing the assignment and address any problems that occur in between.

Somebody not pulling their weight on a specific assignment can be a problem, but addressed maturely and appropriately will foster management skills and an appreciation for individual accountability, that will no doubt come in handy in the workforce later in life.

Students should come to embrace group work in, or outside of class, and realize it is not a cheap ploy to make us deeply unhappy, but a truly positive and conducive method to learning.

After all, as the saying goes, two heads are better than one.