Group Projects: Why I Love Them and Hate Them

Full script

Read the whole talk.

All slides in one place. Read it through once, then practice slide by slide.

1. 01Group Projects

   Hi, everyone. This semester, I had four group projects. Some were amazing, and one was a disaster. Today, I'll share the pros and cons of group projects, and some tips I learned the hard way.

   大家好。这学期我有四个小组作业。有些非常棒，有一个则是一场灾难。今天，我来分享小组作业的优点和缺点，以及我吃了苦头才学到的一些建议。

2. 02Pro: More Ideas

   The best part of group work is ideas. Four people think in four different ways, so our projects were often more creative than anything I could do alone.

   小组合作最好的地方是想法。四个人有四种不同的思考方式，所以我们的作业常常比我一个人能做出来的任何东西都更有创意。

3. 03Pro: Real-World Skills

   Group projects also build skills we'll need at work, like communicating clearly, sharing tasks, and making compromises.

   小组作业还能培养我们将来工作中需要的能力，比如清楚地沟通、分配任务和互相妥协。

4. 04Con: Unequal Work

   However, the biggest problem is unequal work. In my disaster project, two of us did almost everything, while one member didn't answer messages for a week.

   不过，最大的问题是分工不均。在那个灾难般的作业里，我们中的两个人几乎做了所有事情，而有一个组员一个星期都不回消息。

5. 05Con: Scheduling

   Another problem is scheduling. Everyone has different classes and part-time jobs, so just finding one hour to meet can take days.

   另一个问题是时间安排。每个人的课程和兼职都不一样，所以光是找一个小时碰面，就可能要花好几天。

6. 06My Tips

   Here are my tips. Divide the tasks clearly on the first day, set small deadlines before the final one, and keep all communication in one shared chat.

   这是我的建议。第一天就把任务分清楚，在最终截止日期之前设定几个小的截止日期，并且把所有沟通都放在同一个群聊里。

7. 07Conclusion

   In conclusion, group projects can be the best or the worst part of school. The difference is usually planning. Set clear roles early, and you'll love them more than you hate them. Thank you.

   总之，小组作业可能是校园生活中最好的部分，也可能是最糟的部分。区别通常在于计划。尽早明确分工，你就会爱它多过恨它。谢谢大家。