Even though some University students may dread them or try to avoid them, many say group projects teach valuable lessons for the future.

"Through small-group work I hope to develop leadership qualities, which will help when I move to larger groups in industry," said Mark Flaugh (sophomore-electrical engineering).

Flaugh, a student in Speech Communications 100B -- which emphasizes group speeches -- said he likes how the teacher steers and evaluates the groups' performances, but also allows the students to work with each other.

Other students said group work also helps develop personal communication skills.

"You learn to communicate and deal with other people's opinions, which is a personal and professional benefit," Alyssa Ilov (junior-marketing) said. Ilov does group work in her Marketing Research 342 class.

But Luke Brown (sophomore-engineering science) said he finds that group work is challenging because it is difficult for everyone to agree. Brown chose to take Speech Communications 100B to prepare for employment in industry where working in groups is necessary.

Scott Davidheiser (junior-speech communications) said he learns how to resolve conflict working in groups.

"In good group interaction you're given a problem and you see different points of view," Davidheiser said.

Davidheiser is a student in Speech Communications 350 -- a class in which one project is assigned to many small groups. Davidheiser communicates with course director Gerald Phillips by computer mail, he said.

Phillips said the idea behind the course is to create a realistic corporate situation.

"The students face the same problems they would in industry -- remote communication and a chain of command where they have something at stake," Phillips said.

Even though the time involved with group work is more than that spent on individual projects, the experience is worth the effort, Ilov said.

"The group work in my marketing research class is the actual type of work I would be doing after college," Ilov said.