Unfortunately, there may an occasion when one (or more) members of your group do not fully contribute to the work. Perhaps they don’t show up to team meetings, fail to meet deadlines, don’t take part in discussions or put little effort into the task. This will inevitably impact the rest of the team as it risks everyone else falling behind or receiving poorer grades.
Annoying as this can be it is best to find out if there is a reason for their lack of participation. You never know what may be happening in their lives and it may be they themselves are struggling.
The best thing to do in the first instance is talk to the student to voice your concerns. Some people may prefer to do this as a group or perhaps by having one group member speak to them one on one. This way you can try to find a solution as a group and find a better way of working together. For example you may decide to change meeting times to better suit everyone, alter deadlines (if you can) or agree to help each other out more.
However, if things do not improve after speaking to the student personally it may be a good idea to discuss the matter with your lecturer. Don’t worry about what the other students will think. Remember, this could impact your grades and your degree classification if it goes unresolved.
It is very likely that your lecturer will have told you in advance what their rule is when dealing with students who aren’t participating. They may initially speak to them to remind them of their responsibility towards not only their group but to their own learning. Usually this is enough to get the message across and encourage the student to improve their contribution.
If this does not work, your lecturer may need to take more serious action. The non-participating student may be given a lower grade than the rest of the group or even removed from the group altogether meaning they need to complete the assignment on their own.
