Da Li has teamed up with two friends to do a group project for his module. They plan the project together, then decide that each person will do a different task. Da Li will do the technical work, one friend will do background research and the other will do the writing up. All three meet to discuss things as the project progresses. They also read the written report, add comments and make changes together. The final polished report is submitted by the three friends. Da Li is alarmed when, a week later, he is called in to see his tutor about plagiarism.
Everything here depends on what the students were asked to do.
Even in a group assignment, tutors want to make sure that each of you achieves the learning outcomes of the module.
If the project contains a number of tasks such as research, analysis, evaluation and design, it is desirable for all of you to learn, discuss, apply and evaluate the knowledge, techniques and skills that are involved. All too often, groups distribute work according to who is best at a task, which means that the weaker members of the group do not get the same learning opportunities as the strongest members.
A better approach would be to:
