Imagine that you are a university student, would you want to receive the same grade on the group work project or the difference? What would you do? This essay would explore why I disagree that members of the group would receive disparate grades on the project for the following reasons.

It is unfair for some group members to receive the same grade since there might be free riders existed in the team. Although most of the group members may be distributed into the same amount of work, some group members reject to turn in the assignment on time and do not work on their part carefully, which would be quite harmful to the group grade. Similarly, the group project, such as a research report, could not be divided equally. Some people in the group must do the most challenging part to finish the research report. According to a survey in the Chinese Daily, over 45 percent of students in Beijing University dislike group work because of free riders. Nearly 60 percent of these people get a low grade because of the policy of receiving the same mark to all the members of the project.

Getting different scores for the individual can trigger competition. It is reported by Cornell University that competition is the best way to evaluate students, such as exams. People would work even harder to finish the group projects for their grades, which is also beneficial to the whole group mark. As a result, it would be easier for professors to judge their work separately. According to a report in the Students Newspaper that over 30 percent of students do better on their projects in the group due to the competition with their group members. 40 percent of professors in high school in China think that it is easier for them to evaluate and know more about students’ weaknesses and advantages when they mark their group projects individually.

To put it in a nutshell, grading students who work on a report in groups can get rid of free riders and be fairer to all members. Moreover, it is convenient for professors to know more about students.