CCP's (actually, Fozzie specifically springs to mind) been talking about making everything 'social' and I really don't think you can force people to be social. I think the game is doing a pretty good job saying one ought to try to be social for better game experience, but entirely stamping out single player play is going to see crazy fits like Esna pointed out. It'll be interesting to watch, but kind of a pain when you could just let people grind if they want to.
I like the idea of teaching newer players how to fit, and I think going into it in gangs could ruin that premise; you don't have to be fit as well when you have enough guys to steamroll it (which is going to happen if it's hard). I want to say I like this idea, but I feel like it might not have the intended effect when released to players. Good try though - that's one of the hardest things is getting used to fitting and refitting. It was a lot harder when I was solo, and doing missions. There was a lot of carefully matching similar modules to suggestions and sometimes not entirely understanding it.
Ironically, having ships tossed in front of me and being asked, "Hey kid, can you fly this?" actually has taught me a lot more about the modules themselves than carefully making ships 'by hand' for missions.
So... I hope this helps newbros, but it might not. ?!