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According to the experiment conducted by the Harvard university, people cooperated as a group has a better understanding on a given topic than people who inquired alone. It shows that working together as a group can help people to learn new things more faster and effectively. It is also applicable in the classroom, if students frequently participate in group works, they can expand their knowledge and develop important life skills.
First, group project helps students to broaden their horizons. Everyone are different, different growing background, different interest and different knowledge. It creates distinct perspectives and opinions for each person. When teachers assign group projects, students have opportunities to interact with their classmates. It is a valuable chance to listen to others opinion and view a specific topic in different perspectives. Students definitely can gain new knowledge and even they learn ways to consider every question differently. For example, when I was in the middle school, teachers assigned us a newspaper summary group project. Until then, I only read news written from my own countries, but my group mates suggested me the BBC news website, she added it will help me to understand two sides of all the issues happen all over the world. After I read the newspaper from contrasting perspectives, I learned that my knowledge was biased. The recommendation of my teammates helped to broaden my horizons.
Second, team assignment teaches students important social skills, specifically communication skills. The reasons for students attending school is not only for learning textbook knowledge, but also to learn ways to live in the society, which include social skills. Group project is the most effective and natural way to teach student these skills. Group project requires conversation, group of students need to communicate with each others. During the process, they can understand the importance of listen to others opinion and accept others' ideas. For instance, I had transfer from a local high school to an international school. My new school requires a lots of group project, which was totally differently with my previous school. I was a shy person, I never actively talked to classmates who is not close with me and I felt nervous to interact with them. However, after I did many group projects, such as group presentation, group research and group debate. I became confidence to even carry out the conversation with a stranger. consistently doing team project with others enhances my social skills that can used for my life.
In sum, engaging in group tasks frequently definitely can help students to expand their taught and develop social skills. In this regard, teachers assign projects for students to work together can make the students learn much more effectively. |