As I open my computer at 10 p.m., I realize that nobody in my physics lab group has contributed to the project. To make it even more frustrating, my groupmates spent the entire class period gossiping about others in the class and discussing weekend plans while completely ignoring the assignment. Now, I’m left with hours of work.

This is not an isolated incident. I often seem to end up in a group where the other members slack off, so when labs are worth 40% of your grade in most STEM classes, one bad lab grade can shave points off of your GPA.

To make matters worse, when grading, most teachers only see the final output of the group. Hardly any teachers assess individual effort or check the document history to ensure all group members contributed equally. 

As a result, the students who didn’t contribute to the assignment receive the same grade as the ones who were working late into the night, frantically trying to get everything done as midnight approached. 

To ensure the grading system for projects is more fair and accurate, teachers should use peer feedback forms after group projects to help ensure students will actively participate and contribute in labs and other group work.

This can easily be a simple rating scale on a Google Form. These forms are quick to make and can be reused across a year or different classes. With this feedback, teachers can create groups based on compatibility, collaboration and buy-in from everyone. With more hands-on collaboration, everyone will learn more. And, after all, why should someone who is aiming for a higher grade in the class be stuck with someone who doesn’t care?

Collaboration is an essential part of a workplace, and feedback forms will not undermine the importance of working together; rather, they allow for a clearer communication and understanding among group members.

Just like in the real world, poor collaboration during labs can lead to missed deadlines and failed projects. Feedback forms provide an alternative accountability mechanism to ensure students actively communicate and participate with one another.

Consistent feedback forms will also allow for a more equitable grading system. Sure, in the few cases when everyone actually tries to contribute, looking at the final product works fine. However, this is a rarity. In the majority of cases, some team members haven’t even written a sentence in the project. As a result, those students should receive a lower grade than the students who took responsibility for getting the project done. Another alternative is to assign different parts of the project to different group members where every member can be graded individually for their work.

Some may argue that this system may prevent some students from being paired up with each other, but this situation is better than the alternative: when students are paired together and don’t get anything done at all, they won’t get along.

The benefits of these feedback forms far outweigh any downsides. Feedback forms allow the classroom to succeed as a whole, causing smoother group projects and a more productive environment. Everyone deserves recognition for their hard work and dedication — not just the luck of being assigned to the right group.