Synopsis
In the article “Writing ‘Eyeball to Eyeball’: Building a Successful Collaboration” by Rebecca Ingalls, the author explores the various common experiences of students with group projects and proposes a multitude of steps to take in order for a collaborative project to succeed. Her methods are mainly based in building strong communication skills, delegating the roles of each group member prior to beginning the project, establishing a contract that each member of the group agrees on, and identifying the purpose or end goal for the project, as well as collectively deciding the parameters of a “successful” project specific to the group.
Analysis
These are all steps that could prove useful to anyone working on a group project. However, I do not think that they apply to some of the scenarios that Ingalls’ mentioned, such as when the teacher creates the groups and when you get stuck with a student or an entire group who simply refuses to contribute. Granted, Ingalls does propose ways to figure out why a student is being difficult to work with, but in reality, sometimes there is no easy solution, and if a teacher is unwilling to assist, you may just be stuck in an unfair situation.
My Opinion
I think that the examples Ingalls mentioned in the beginning of the article, such as John Lennon and Paul McCartney, are a bit specific and not really applicable to school-based group projects. Outside of school and the parameters of a particular assignment, one has relatively more freedom to choose their partner or group. In school, there are, unfortunately, times when a student has none of this freedom and little to no assistance when the group or partnership is incompatible.
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