By: Tyla Matthews | Staff Writer
Dr. Timothy Schauer teaching a business course at the University of Lynchburg. (University of Lynchburg)
Group projects are a staple of the business program at the University of Lynchburg, but not everyone agrees on how well they work.
For professors like Dr. Timothy Schauer, group work isn’t just about splitting up work, but also about how it can be applied in the real world.
Dr. Schauer, who also serves as Dean for the School of Professional and Applied Sciences, said, “I try to center all of the group projects around a particular task that needs to happen. And in marketing, it’s certainly gonna revolve around a client or a customer that needs to sell or do some marketing towards a particular good or service.”
Senior marketing student Justin Sheehan has a complicated relationship with group work assignments due to the workload inequity that can arise.
“I tend to be a bit OCD with my grades and controlling things. Because I think a lot of people have lost my trust in group work. So, I struggle with that. Most professors seem to take a very reasonable approach to identifying problems in the groups, but that’s making accommodations, not fixing the problem,” said Sheehan.
According to The Hechinger Report, 62% of employers rate teamwork as a very important skill.
“The reason that I do it as a group project is that’s exactly the way they will work outside of school, and rarely does one person do all of it,” said Dr. Schauer.
Sheehan has taken several courses taught by Dr. Schauer and has always appreciated the way he designs the material for group work in his classes.
“Now, the one in sales that Schauer did, that one was not so much the group work was good, but the way it was applied was good,” said Sheehan.
To learn more about the School of Professional and Applied Sciences, visit https://www.lynchburg.edu/academics/school-of-professional-and-applied-sciences/
