Telling the truth on a peer evaluation for a group project?

[JESSICAAA159]

I worked on a project with 5 other students. We further divided the group into pairs to spread the work evenly. Unfortunately, I got paired off with one of the laziest people I know.

We split the assignment right down the middle, and she didn't do her part.

When I asked her, she used school, clinicals, being sick as an excuse (HELLO?! We all have that and I was sick too) When I told her she can't keep doing, she got really mad and BSed a little paragraph of work (we needed to write 3 pages each). I ended up doing her part of the work (ALL OF IT), including references, intro, conclusion, definitions.

I honestly want to give her a 0-25% on our peer evaluation. However, our instructor alarmed us that if you're the only one who gave a bad evaluation about someone, she will have to speak to ALL of us. I don't want to be put on the spot even though she mentions it is supposed to be confidential. Btw, my instructor told us to sort any group work problems on our own (she didn't want to hear it & I have never worked with this girl before).

And I think it is kind of obvious because I was the only one who worked with her the most. The other pairs had no problems.

What do I do?

[onajourney]

The question isn't "Should I throw her under the bus?", it's "How many times should I run this lazy excuse for a nursing student over with the bus?"

[whofan, ADN, BSN, RN]

And this is exactly why I think they should do away with group projects. It is unnecessary and way too frustrating for all involved.

[CarpeDiem'15]

I agree with the previous posters, don't be afraid to tell the truth and receive credit for ALL the work you did. Only thing I'd add is that I would first tell your lazy partner, in a factual and non-emotionally driven manner, what you intend to rate her contributions (emphasis on contributions). If she has the nerve to challenge that, show her the documentation / evidence you've amassed that make your case. Then go to your other group members and inform them of your intent as you provide evidence. Doing it this way makes sure you've maintained your transparency and integrity with all of your teammates, lazy offender included. :) Assuming your other teammates like to abide by fair-play, I'm sure they won't have any issues with how you rate your partner.

[futurepsychrn, ADN]

I fully understand the concept of group projects, work together, become a team ( as in healthcare). However, the reality is that, in life, there are always going to be people you cannot get along with, or work with no matter how hard you try. It's called personality clashes. It's also called being realistic! Right before our clinical group assignments I went to my instructor and told her in all honesty there were 2 people I refused to work with. They are very immature and childish and I refused to put myself in the position of having to deal with them intimately in a clinical situation. I also knew I could not rely on them when the chips were down. They are the kind of people who throw a fit if you're doing better in school than they are and have no problem vocalizing that. Sorry, I worked my butt off and gave up my life to get the grade I did and I refuse to apologize for it. Anyway, the point is she made sure I was not put in a clinical group with them. In my opinion, if you go to the instructor before the problem arises and state your position honestly and like an adult, you can work it out before the problem starts.

[SmilingBluEyes]

My experience with group projects and studying has always sucked. I hate doing them for the same reasons. The slackers expect the rest of us to do all the work and then expect to be given credit. I honestly learned nothing and benefited not one bit from group projects.

[bellini]

Slightly different slant on group work...I did my post-diploma BScN and the majority of assignments (presentations and papers) were group projects. Ostensibly, the purpose of this was to foster "team work", but the real reason was that the program employed sessional teachers who usually had full-time jobs somewhere else. Group assignments meant they had to mark three or four papers instead of fifteen or twenty.

I got stuck with the same group throughout the program. They were nice enough people, but terrible students. There was no way in heck that I was going to submit their work with my name on it. The level of literacy was truly atrocious. I knew that I wanted to go to graduate school, and I was only going to get the grades that I needed for that if I did all the work. And that is what happened throughout the program. The other students in my group got some grades that they did not deserve, but I was not bitter about it. I was not going to be stopped because the school accepted people into the program who couldn't read and write properly.

[bobbygafford]

I would hold her accountable.

The academic environment is set up to weed out the weak and keep our industry safe from lazy people who will become liabilities in the field. You owe your peer nothing and it shows character that you picked up the slack. No harm can come to you for being honest. Give her a

[CrystalinNC]

This is for comic relief. I saw a meme the other day that said, "When I die, I want anyone I did a group project with to lower me into the ground. That way they can let me down one more time" :).

[dcwang]

i really don't like group work in the school place if there is peer grading involved, but workplace teamwork is important. i took a pre-med/pre-health chem class once and we had to peer review others' work... guess what. ppl grade each other down because they don't want others to get better grades.

[JBudd, MSN]

Tell the truth and shame the devil.

Be prepared to back up your statement; since your original 5 people split it up further, you definitely need to let them know how much you did, and how little she did. There is no way for them to fairly rate each member of the group if you didn't actually do the work together, unless you communicate.

I can't answer for how your instructor will react, but I do know a particular student in our school who blew off group work. That is until complaints were made, s/he was confronted by faculty and told in no uncertain terms to start pulling his/her fair share.... Later as a one on one partner in another class, actually put the partner's needs ahead of their own, and explained in an email why the lab sheets were incomplete (took too much time helping the other), but took responsibility for it and didn't ask for special consideration, just wanted me to know the work wasn't just being blown off. People can and do change with good leadership and accountability.