Students Give Group Assignments a Failing Grade

By David Glenn

Washington

Speaking before a crowd of more than 500 people here on Saturday afternoon, three undergraduates made a plea to the world’s college instructors: no more group assignments—at least not until you figure out how to fairly grade each student’s individual contributions.

Their plea came during a plenary session at the sixth annual Teaching Professor conference, an event sponsored by Magna Publications, a Wisconsin publisher of higher-education newsletters. In what has become a