Group Work (Blech)

I learned something new last week about my core classes. My professor for my policy class shared with my cohort that the syllabus for our class was part of an already established set of instructions, activities, and learning outcomes that she was not a part in creating. That she was not a part of its creation is obvious since she joined the HALE faculty in 2013 (I think it was 2013). What struck me, however, was the detail of how certain lessons needed to be designed. The specific example of this is group work. Apparently there were a certain number of "group work" assignments for my core classes. I pretty much cringe when I see group work on a syllabus. I start to get a little tightening in my chest and I have a hard time breathing when I think about writing as a group. Fortunately, I have been quite lucky the last year to be in a group with some pretty good people. It does make group work somewhat less painful, but still it falls into the category of most hated things. Also fortunately, my professor for my policy class shares this certain distaste for group work. So she's devised a brilliant way to adhere to the group work assignment and still make it somewhat independent work. So, as she went through the syllabus and I saw group work, and then she unpacked the assignment, my breathing became more even, and my fists unclenched. If I'm going to write a crappy paper, I'd rather just know that I was the only one who wrote it. Unfortunately, I am taking a course in a completely different college (Human Resources and Labor Relations) and this course also requires a group work project. We had a meeting today to discuss our project presentation, and the only thing I can say is that I can't wait for it to be over.