Unveiling the Truth Behind Freeloaders in Group Assignment

On May 20, 2024, Taylor's University witnessed its second mixed martial arts bout of the year. A student wearing a black long-sleeved shirt took another student in a white short-sleeved shirt to the ground with a trip in the third-floor hallway, causing quite a stir. According to informed sources, the altercation was triggered by one student's failure to contribute adequately to a group project, which incited the anger of their group members.

Desperate accusation

I’ve sent you more than enough emails to try and get you to do your damn assignment which took me 45 minutes to complete. I’ll f***ing fail you my guy, I will not hesitate to let the professor know that you’ve done f*** all for this group assignment.” This is a rude but understandable complaint from a student on MMU Confessions' Facebook page about the lazy behavior of the free loader in his group.

Understanding what is freeloader and who they could be

Free loaders are people who enjoy the work of other members of the group without putting their due effort into it. This freeloading behavior can lead to despair and dissatisfaction among the other members. Because they have to take on more work to make up for the absence or inaction of such people, some special free loaders will even expose their inaction on the eve of the deadline, thus directly leading to the complete failure of the entire group.

Free loader types

Free loaders are found in universities all over the world, and their presence is not unusual or new. The motivations of different free loaders also vary. Free loaders at Taylor's often fall into several distinct types, and their group portraits are relatively clear.

1. The passive free loader, a student who usually does not participate in any group discussions and is unable to produce constructive ideas. They can only accept the orders of the group leader, so their task completion and quality are often surprisingly low.

2. Missing free loaders, who are often difficult to contact. They will show up a few days before the deadline and then show no knowledge of the requirements of any assignment. So the other team members had to explain the division of tasks to them again, and the final submission was likely full of loopholes.

3. Excuse free loaders are also very annoying, their reasons are so many that no one seems to be able to blame them. Illness, family reasons, academic pressure, etc. But in fact, they're all over resorts and clubs. This is no doubt a disguised robbery.
   

How much damage can Free loaders do?

Many freeloaders often speak eloquently but take no action. They like to verbally agree to the tasks assigned by the team leader but then claim they are unable to complete the tasks, or they submit a shoddy piece of work just days before the deadline. Due to the freeloaders' mistakes, the other team members have to rush to modify or redo the tasks assigned to them. As a result, a decline in the quality of tasks and delays in submission are inevitable, which can ultimately affect the scores of other team members.

The presence of freeloaders creates distrust among classmates. This issue has been long-standing in our school, where we have observed that many students who want to maintain high grades refuse to cooperate with Chinese students or only choose to work with students who have a CGPA above 3.7. This situation may cause many underperforming students, who are eager to improve their academic performance, to lose the opportunity to progress with their excellent peers.

To reduce the occurrence of free loaders in group projects, Taylor's University can implement several strategies. Firstly, a task reporting system can be introduced, requiring group work leaders to submit a detailed description of the tasks completed by each group member when the work is submitted. This method ensures that free loaders cannot hide their lack of contribution and helps avoid the embarrassment of receiving a low grade in peer evaluations.

Secondly, a lecturer review system can be established, where lecturers review each student's assignment completion and understanding one week before the group assignment is due. This ensures that every student is committed to the task and reduces the possibility of ghostwriting.

Finally, the university should emphasize the importance of active communication within groups. Group leaders should be encouraged to hold regular meetings to ensure that all team members are aware of each other's progress and contributions.

By implementing these measures, Taylor's University can foster a more equitable and collaborative environment for group work.

It is important to note that free loader is a problem that cannot be cured. Every student may encounter unreliable team members, so how to minimize the loss in an unequal cooperation is a matter worth paying attention to. We hope that the above analysis will provide a solution for those students who have the misfortune to encounter free loader, and warn schools to take countermeasures. Violence is always the least desirable means, and we hope that all students who are pursuing academic achievement can use rational means to solve such problems.