How to Make Group Work in Science Class Fairer—and More Useful

“Miss, she didn't do anything.”

Every semester, I seem to have some version of this conversation. My chemistry students complete a periodic table project; my biochemistry students work on a larger clinical case. I want them to research, discuss the science, and learn from each other. Somewhere along the way, though, I start hearing about unanswered messages and work that arrived the night before the deadline.

One experience made me stop assigning group projects altogether.

A student came to me in tears. She said her group had left her out of discussions and rejected her attempts to contribute. Eventually, they removed her name from the final submission.

I don't know what every conversation in that group sounded like. Her classmates may have had concerns about her work. But they had decided, without coming to me, that she should no longer be part of the project. By the time I became involved, she was deeply hurt.

After dealing with that situation, I made the assignment individual. Everyone would do their own work and earn their own grade. I was relieved to be done with the arguments.

Then I had more than 25 versions of the same major project to mark.

That was tedious, but the marking wasn't my only concern. I still wanted students to talk through the science together. In biochemistry, two students can look at the same laboratory results and arrive at different explanations.

Asking them to compare those explanations is worthwhile. So is having to explain why they think one fits the evidence better.

I hadn't stopped believing in that kind of work. I just couldn't keep assigning a shared project and hoping the group would sort everything out.

When I think about bringing group projects back, there are four parts I want to pay attention to: what students prepare before meeting, how they plan the work, what I check along the way, and what each student can explain at the end. Prepare, plan, check, defend. It gives me a way to organise the project without asking students to document every minute of it.

Before students meet, ask them to prepare something

The first group meeting can set the direction for the whole project. One student arrives with an idea, starts talking, and everyone else agrees before they've had much chance to think. A week later, that same student is making most of the decisions.

I'd rather give everyone a small preparation task first.

For the periodic table project, students could bring two credible sources, a few useful findings, and a question they'd like the group to explore. For a clinical biochemistry case, I might ask them to look at the laboratory values independently and note which results seem abnormal.

They don't need a complete answer. In fact, their uncertainties could give the group something useful to discuss.

At the start of the meeting, have each person share what they found. Give them enough time that the first speaker doesn't end up deciding what everyone else will do. A quieter student may still find speaking difficult, but having notes to refer to can help them get started.

Give the group a plan they can actually use

Students need to agree on more than who is doing which slide. They need to know when the work will be ready and how they'll check it together.

A short shared table would do:

That final is very important. Without it, the group can become three students working separately and one person assembling the files. Student A may find the evidence, but everyone needs to discuss whether it supports the explanation.

Roles can help with this, provided we explain what students should actually do. A facilitator might make sure each person has a chance to speak. A checker might ask the group to look again at a calculation or a claim that doesn't seem right. Students can rotate roles as the work develops.

I'd be careful with the student who gets assigned to “make it look nice.” They still need to understand the science. And someone who struggles to create slides shouldn't end up with nothing meaningful to contribute.

My Science Group Roles and Laboratory Management Pack includes editable role cards, a participation rubric, and a reflection sheet if you'd like a starting point. I'd adapt the descriptions to the project and talk through them with students before handing over the work.

The plan also has to fit their lives. An evening Zoom meeting might be convenient for most of a group and impossible for one member. Some students work, care for relatives, share devices, or have unreliable internet. We can easily mistake an availability problem for a motivation problem if we never ask.

For that reason, I would set aside class time for students to make decisions and review each other's work. How much time depends on the project. Even a regular, short meeting gives me a chance to see what's happening and allows students to participate without having to arrange another evening online or outside of school hours.

Keep the group's materials somewhere everyone can access them. If you're still sorting out your folders, my guide to organising Google Drive for science teaching may help.

A shared document also gives you some record of the work, although it won't tell you who explained a difficult concept or helped the group resolve a disagreement.

Check in before the deadline becomes the emergency

By the time a student tells me they've done everyone else's work, they may have been covering for the group for weeks. Asking why they didn't tell me earlier is understandable. Giving them a scheduled opportunity to tell me would be more useful.

For the next major project, I would build in two checks. Early on, I'd look at the plan and sources. Later, I'd review the draft explanation or case analysis.

In biochemistry, that second check is particularly useful. If the group has misinterpreted a laboratory value, I want to catch it before they've built a whole presentation around it.

During group work, I already make a point of asking each member a question when I circulate. “What have you decided so far?” is a useful start. Then I might ask why they chose that explanation, what they're working on, or what they're unsure about.

I want to hear from the person who hasn't volunteered an answer, too. If one student answers every question, I can't tell what the others understand.

Students need a way to raise concerns

I'd explain the procedure before assigning the project. For an ordinary missed task, students can refer to the plan and ask what happened: “We agreed the research would be ready on Tuesday. Do you need help finishing it?” They may be able to adjust the task or deadline together.

If that doesn't resolve it, I need to know while there's still time to respond. Students shouldn't feel they have to rescue the project first and complain afterwards.

Exclusion or intimidation needs a more direct route to me.

I wouldn't ask a student to keep negotiating alone with a group that is treating them badly.

And I would be explicit about names on the final submission: students cannot remove a group member's name without speaking to me. I need to review the work and hear what happened before making an assessment decision.

If you'd like to work on how you teach and revisit procedures like these, I've written more about that in my science classroom routines post.

Make room for disagreement about the science

A group that agrees quickly isn't necessarily doing good work. Someone may have noticed a problem and decided it wasn't worth saying anything.

Students need practice questioning an explanation without dismissing the person who offered it. You can model this with a claim the class is already discussing: “What evidence supports that?” or “I interpreted the results differently because…” Then show how to respond when someone asks the question.

The response matters as much as the opening.

If students hear a reasonable question answered with irritation, they learn to stop asking.

A few prompts on the board can be useful while they practise. My Science Talk display offers stems for discussing evidence and scientific conclusions. I'd use those alongside prompts for respectful disagreement, and refer to them during an actual discussion. Students need to hear what the language sounds like in use.

Ask each student to explain the group's work

After a presentation, it's easy to know who spoke confidently and who read from the slides. It's harder to know who understands the project.

For my clinical biochemistry students, I might ask each person to interpret a key laboratory result or explain why it supports the proposed diagnosis. In the periodic table project, I could ask about a trend or diagram I select, including one the student didn't create.

I'd tell students about this when I introduce the assignment, so they know they need to review the whole project together. If we assess only the section each person produced, we give them very little reason to learn about the rest.

Where peer evaluation fits

Students see parts of the process I miss, so peer evaluation can help. But “Was this person a good group member?” doesn't give me much to work with.

I'd ask them to name a task the student completed, explain a contribution they made to the scientific discussion, and give an example of how they responded to feedback. I'd also ask students to reflect on their own contribution.

Collect the responses privately. Then look at them alongside the work submitted, your conversations with students, and their individual explanations. If the accounts don't agree, follow up.

I keep coming back to the student whose name was removed. A group may be unanimous in its criticism and still have treated someone unfairly. Equally, a student praised for doing everything may have taken over before anyone else had a chance. Peer feedback needs that context before it affects a grade.

What I'd try first

For the next project, I'd begin with individual preparation, a shared plan, two progress checks, and a question for each student at the end. I can fit those into the assignment without spending the whole term managing it.

There will still be missed deadlines and disagreements. I expect that. What I want to avoid is discovering, at submission time, that one student has carried the project or another has been pushed out of it.

I haven't forgotten how relieved I felt when I switched to individual work. I also haven't forgotten why I wanted students working together in the first place. I want to give group projects another chance, with more opportunities to find out what's happening while I can still help.

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