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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Masters- group presentation gone tits up

27 replies

giordano · 25/11/2018 20:51

My group allocated each other 5 slides each for a 15 min presentation we have tomorrow (have them bi-weekly). To prep and then present.

Received a text from 1 of the presenters (there are 3 but 5 group members) saying he's has had a bad weekend and can't present or prep (arsehole). No one else in my group is stepping up, I can see they are on WhatsApp. I've literally contributed 60% of what has gone in (for all presentations)- including staying up until 2 am last time. Only one other guy has contributed a fair amount.

Our grade is shared.

I've completed my slides (and the other guys') and now want to prep what to say as I have severe social anxiety. My team has gone radio silent.

AIBU to message them and say "I can't work on this anymore, these are the slides i'm doing you guys figure the rest out"

OP posts:

lillylollylandy · 25/11/2018 20:56

Go for it. And then if they don't step up, tell your tutor.

Grace212 · 25/11/2018 20:56

oh lordy
can't believe they still saddle people with this kind of thing at Masters level

I have been in your spot - the first time I stepped up and did the lot, the second time I didn't. However, it was probably the difference between a distinction and a merit, but tbh I was so pissed off with the whole thing I didn't think too much about it in the end. I did mine for work reasons though, so there's an argument it paid for itself.

in terms of your anxiety, I think it's reasonable for you to contribute what you can and not do a bunch of work that gives someone else a fab grade. Sorry you are having this experience.

MrsChollySawcutt · 25/11/2018 21:01

5 group meme era and 5 slides each? That's 25 slides which far too many for a 15 min presentation.

As a group you need to consolidate what you have, choose the best of the material (I'd say not more than 8-10 slides max) and let the presenters plan a cohesive storyboard around it.

DarthLipgloss · 25/11/2018 21:05

I teach in a university. All our group work requires all the students to sign a form saying they all have contributed equally.
If you don't have this speak to your personal tutor and whoever is course leader for this.

Sethis · 25/11/2018 21:07

Shared credit is, was, and has always been, fucking stupid. Period.

Not a single person I have ever spoken to who has experienced shared credit for presentations or homework has had a single positive thing to say about it.

Literally the only thing it teaches is that your colleagues are cunts. Which, while a valuable lesson in and of itself, shouldn't be reflected in your degree mark.

Original poster

giordano · 25/11/2018 21:19

It has to be 25- diagrams etc

OP posts:

Original poster

giordano · 25/11/2018 21:19

I'm doing international management and accounting- 6 group assignments this term alone!

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Grace212 · 25/11/2018 21:24

@giordano - I hope those 6 group tasks aren't a large chunk of the mark?

@Sethis "Literally the only thing it teaches is that your colleagues are cunts. Which, while a valuable lesson in and of itself, shouldn't be reflected in your degree mark."

this made me lol, thanks

I did my masters on top of a job, so I already knew that, no lessons to learn there. Also, our groups were dictated by the tutor - they deliberately mixed up working students and non working students and it was a nightmare because those of us doing long hours in a job just wanted to get on with group work, whereas the ones just studying were quite happy to talk around it for ages.

wizzywig · 25/11/2018 21:26

Is this an mba? Yep i experienced this. Grassed my group up. No idea whether they were spoken to about being utterly lazy

5SecondsFromWilding · 25/11/2018 21:26

If he's discovered at this late stage that he can't contribute at all to an assignment that he'll be receiving a grade for, surely it's his responsibility to approach the university and ask for a mitigating circumstances exception so he can submit later with another submission or intake?

Original poster

giordano · 25/11/2018 21:29

Grace212- 40 percent! I can be a bit of a control freak (do my best to keep it contained) so I can't just "hope for the best"/presume someone else will see to it. I'm spending a lot of money so it makes no sense to not give it everything (even if everyone else is fucking about).

I feel like people have done the bare minimum with their slides whereas I have formatted, added/drawn up diagrams and filled in gaps.

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Grace212 · 25/11/2018 21:33

40%?!

okay, you need to talk to your tutor about this. hopefully you will get a more satisfactory response than I did. I did mine nearly 20 years ago (!) so there was no proof really that certain people hadn't contributed. if you have actual messages from someone saying "I can't do my part" you can at least show them to the tutor. It might seem petty but at 40%....

the killer of course is that if you do all the work, they get the mark, hence why I did it once.

so these places charge a fortune and cut back on marking that way? I always thought it was a big factor behind group work in the first place tbh.

IronManSucks · 25/11/2018 21:34

I had this last semester on my MSc. I emailed the lecturer the night before with a factual description of what had happened and the times they occurred then said we would do the presentation as a three.

I ended up having to top and tail it but it went down ok. We got a (low) A.

Grace212 · 25/11/2018 21:35

PS there is nothing wrong with being a "control freak" in what should be your course and your marks and your results! It was a real disappointment to me to find out that I wasn't in complete control of doing my own work.

I have heard a few people talking about team related bonuses, but luckily I've never had one - my real work experience was personal bonuses or commission, so again, no idea what lesson is being taught there.

IronManSucks · 25/11/2018 21:36

It was worth 50% of the final mark for that subject too. I got high As for the rest of the coursework so was a bit pissed off mind.

Original poster

giordano · 25/11/2018 21:36

wizzywig have already saved all the necessary screenshots! Not sure what good it will do.

Bit concerned that part of the mark scheme involves equally distributing the work. We divide the work fairly initially, but when Sunday night roles it feels like I end up with the lions share. All these presentations haven't been nearly as painful for others as they have for me.

Is this an mba?
Unfortunately just an MSc. Would love to do an MBA eventually.

My brain is mush as I have been up since 6 am. This is not going ot end well.

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5SecondsFromWilding · 25/11/2018 21:41

I'd reply to the person saying something along the lines of...

Sorry to hear you've had a rough weekend. Unfortunately it's a bit late for anyone to try and help you out now. You'll need to email the lecturer to inform them of why you've been unable to contribute so that you can do the assignment again with those who need to resubmit. Hopefully the rest of us will be able to deliver the brief with what we already have.

Original poster

giordano · 25/11/2018 21:43

2 members also really struggle with English. Genuinely have no idea how they are able to manage the course (or how they got accepted) . Have had to explain some fairly basic words (not even technical ones). At least they haven't landed us in it at the last minute.

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Grace212 · 25/11/2018 21:47

oh OP, I had that too! in theory they should have passed a test to get on the course. in reality I can't see how they could have done.

my tutor told me that the uni issue certificates saying "Joe completed a course in...." and don't put the pass/merit/distinction on - and when they go to another country, that might be useful. This was 20 years ago though....so I had hoped some progress had been made but I suppose ultimately courses are all about making money.

no one officially said anything about the language issues - seemed like it would get us in trouble.

Alfie190 · 25/11/2018 21:53

I am doing a masters at the moment too. One of my marks (well 35% of it) last semester was based on a group presentation. I was in a group with four others and myself and three others did a decent job, but the other one was hopeless. I did most of the coaching to try to get her section up to scratch but it was still dreadful.

We spoke to the lecturers after the presentation and they did say that they realised the weak link but also that it was too late to raise any concerns after the event.

So if you want to raise a concern about the person who has said he cannot contribute you need to do it now. I also would not say to the others that you cannot do anything else, it might be turned on you!

In the end, we accepted that they do these group marks, effort is not always even and so be it, the majority of the masters is not based on a group mark.

I also find it weird that for a 15 minute presentation you are doing 25 slides, that sounds way too much to me.

ILoveCheeseMe · 25/11/2018 21:57

I sympathise so much, I was in just the same situation on my MA. Five of us. I did everything - arranged a date everyone could do, booked a study room, hauled my 8-months pregnant ass into uni, did my own slides. One guy had cleared off on holiday and told no one, one girl didn’t show, and the two that did had done no work. One of them then sat and did her slides but then spent ages choosing the design of the slides and doing none of the work. Absolutely fuming.

In the end everyone did turn some work in and we got a 62 or something. I did fill in the module feedback and said I felt it was a terrible way to assess students and extremely unfair, but thankfully it was only one of two pieces of group work (the other one was bad too but not as bad as that one!)

Original poster

giordano · 25/11/2018 23:07

Alfie190- I'm debating sending an email to the lecturer right now. But as it's the last one I'm wondering if there's any point. Do have evidence that he's missed 30% of meetings (many dodgy excuses). This one bloke has done next to nothing and will possibly get a distinction- if we manage to pull tomorrow off.

The 2 Chinese students have been very pleasant but I'm not exaggerating when I said they've made almost no valuable contributions. I just ended up tutoring them during meetings. They do try but it's been a huge hinderance.

25 slides may sound crazy but it's a case study and we have to provide evidence from the text and include a number of diagrams, graphs etc. I think it flows fairly well.

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MrsChollySawcutt · 25/11/2018 23:14

Yes but if it's a presentation then you will only have 36 seconds per slide to explain the contents of all 25 slides.

You need to reserve time for an introduction and conclusion out of the 15 mins too.

Presumably part of the marking is about your ability to actually present not just deliver the case study answers?

QuestionableMouse · 25/11/2018 23:15

Yes email now with your concerns. Document what you've produced, the excuses/missed meetings and anything else you have.

Original poster

giordano · 25/11/2018 23:19

MrsChollySawcutt I understand completely. But a number of slides serve almost as appendices which we sort of gloss over but include for the purposes of marking (e.g plugging in the right figures for income statements etc)

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