Many of you have not had much experience working in groups. It will take some work to make things go smoothly, but I believe that you will find doing your work this way much more fun, interesting and ultimately rewarding. Whether you are on the giving or receiving end of an explanation with a friend, you will be learning more than if you were working alone.
In your first group meeting you should spend some time talking about how you are going to work. One of the most common problem with groups is that people think that everyone works like they do. So you should discuss as a group what your expectations are and how each person will contribute. Remember, you are all different and you have different strengths and skills. But you are in this together and will be expected to help the group however you can. Every couple weeks, the group should take the time to assess how they are working together and decide on any changes. I will try to meet with each group early on and thereafter every couple weeks, both for design review and just to see how things are going.
You should also assign a group leader/coordinator. This position can rotate among the group members if you like, but there needs to be one person who takes the lead scheduling meetings and deciding on how the group should proceed. You need to tell me who this person is. I will put their name at the top of the group list, and this is the person I will communicate with if something comes up.
Although email can be very useful for communicating, it cannot replace the occasional group meeting. You must meet at least once a week - the lab section is a natural place to at least touch base, and I would plan to use a good half-hour of this time for a group meeting.
When the group hands in a lab or homework assignment, everyone should sign the assignment along with the amount they contributed. Normally credit would be spread out evenly. But if the group feels that one or two people have done more than their share, then they should indicate this. I will not pay great attention to this unless the amounts are way out of balance. I may use this in the end to nudge certain grades up a notch.
I know that many students resist the idea of working in groups. Here are some arguments often raised and my answer to them:
Learning is not a competitive sport. Grades are not curved in this course. Helping someone else to do better will not lower your grade. On the contrary, you will find that you will really understand whatever you teach to someone else. Studies (and there are lots of them) show that students in classes with collaborative learning score much higher on the same tests than students in traditional classes.
Almost any job you take, outside of forest ranger, will require you to work with others whether you like them or not. Knowing how to work with others is the skill employers say is most important.
It will take time at first to adjust to the group dynamics. You should spend some time at first deciding how you are going to work together and what role each person is going to have. Take the attitude that you have a job to get done and ask what needs to happen to get it done.
If a team member consistently lets down the rest of the group, then their name should not appear on the assignment. If there are problems getting a group going, please come talk to me about it. As a last resort, you can deport a group member.