Editing Cooperative learning (section)

=== Loafing ===
{{main|Social loafing}}
Loafing is defined as "students who don't take responsibility for their own role, even if it is the smallest role in the group."<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Isaac|first=Megan|date=March 2012|title=I Hate Group Work: Social Loafers, Indignant Peers, and the Drama of The Classroom|journal=The English Journal|volume=101|issue=4 |pages=83–89|doi=10.58680/ej201218753 |jstor=41415478}}</ref> Students expect that group based learning will be fair for everyone within the group. In order for cooperative learning &nbsp;to be fair the work load must be shared equally within the group. Many students fear that this will not take place.&nbsp; This leads to the students developing group hate.
{{blockquote|text=The fear that some members of the group will act as passengers or social loafers and derive a benefit (generally a good grade) from the group activity undermines the effectiveness of the group. Some students hoard their intellectual capital to make sure that no one unjustly benefits from it. Ironically, some of the students most indignant about "slackers" or "freeloaders" make immediate assumptions about their peers and insist from the outset that they will have to take care of everything in order to maintain control. There are many ways for a concern about equity to warp the function of a group. Therefore, to make groups more effective, the most important thing an instructor can do to defuse student resistance to cooperative learning &nbsp;is to focus attention on the issue of "fairness."<ref name=":1" />}}
In order for students not to develop group hate the instructors must be very aware of this process and take steps to insure that the project is fair. This can be a difficult task. It is often difficult to gauge which students are loafing while the project is taking place, unless other students in the group bring the problem to the attention of the instructor.