Second, students are capable of teaching each other just as well as their professors can teach the students. Students need the self-assurance in their capabilities, which comes with practice in the group setting.
Of course one obvious problem with group work is inevitably one member will fail to do his/her job. The same thing will happen when you go to work for Halliburton, GE, or Boeing. So, group work in college affords you the opportunity to learn how to deal with such a scenario. Learn how to accomplish the goal even though at least one group member has not lived up to his or her responsibilities.
https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/students-teaching-students-and-student-engagement
When I first started college, we had to split up in groups for an assignment and I will admit I didn’t like it. I don’t know if it was more so because I was shy or what. I do know that me being shy has cost me a lot of jobs. People don’t want to hire someone that isn’t outgoing and is nervous to talk to people specially in the serving world. I just graduated college, and I went in for an interview for a restaurant to be a server. I was really shy and unfortunately didn’t get the job. Well a couple days later I went in the same restaurant to see one of my friends that worked there, and I saw the manager that hired me and just said “Hey Jeremy!” He walked over and said where was this personality when I interviewed you. From that point on I learned from that experience and usually I’m the first to talk and take action. I will say working in groups has helped a lot with being social and I don’t mind working as a team, in fact I like working with others as I tend to talk a lot.
ReplyDeleteTo this day I am still not and I do not think I will ever be a fan of group work. Due to my past experiences in middle school and high school I can surely say that I am not fond of group work. I remember one time in middle school two girls that would call me names happened to be in my group and they left me doing everything. Sadly, those girls got the grade for work they did not do. It was always something that happened often when I had group work in any class not just in that one. Even in high school I never looked forward to group work because of people like that, but finally one day in my English class I got fed up with the people in my group. Thus, I had decided on telling my teacher. That class was my favorite and so was the teacher which is why I was comfortable telling her that the people were not contributing. My teacher ended up giving me the grade and not to them. It is very stressful having to work with others especially when they do nothing which bothers me. That is why I never enjoy group work because I know how it goes.
ReplyDeleteI agree, that is it frustrating being paired to work with individuals that do not complete their part and having to work with a person you have issues with. I feel that the best thing is to notify the teacher, because it is wrong and unfair for others to receive credit for your work that they didn't contribute to. I feel as working alone is much easier because you will not have to worry and deal with any issues of others not wanting to contribute to the work and having to share credit with them. I will always favor working individually than working in a group.
DeleteGroup work is one of the most important skill that has develop the society significantly. In my opinion, group work is a useful tool when we meet complicated problems. We can divide the problem into different sections and each person response for each section. People can assist each other even if it is not their section. The leadership is an important role in a teamwork. He moderates the work, control the manpower and responsible for the success of a group. That is the reason why companies always ask you about your experience of working in group. Companies want us, not only to have a good performance but also know how to improve performances of other colleagues. I have been in many groups since I was in high school. It helps me to work effectively with other people, know about their strengths and their drawbacks, to speak when we have to speak. If you see someone who is shy to work in our group, it is necessary to help them get away from their safe zone, to look for their strengths and give them the work they good at, also provide a relax environments where they can speak out their ideas.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, group work is one of the best ways to help people improve the communication and interaction with others. This is a challenge for every single person works on it. It can help people develop a host of skills that are increasingly in the professional world. People can also learn a lot of things from people who work with. Furthermore, group work help people improve communication when they work together. People can understand each other and feel more comfortable when we discuss. It also helps people have the responsibility for their own work. Special, it helps for someone who is quite person to work in our group, it is necessary to help them get more activity in class, to be more friendly and funny in group when people discuss. They can make you surprise about something you are never known about them. People are quite that doesn’t mean they don’t know they just don’t want to talk. When they work on group, they will give you good ideas, good sources, etc. Moreover, group work is the best tools help you improve your knowledge, your experience.
ReplyDeleteFor me, I strongly agree that group work is one of the most and essential ways for college student education. This is one of the necessary skills that college students must have. They need to learn how to become a professional student by working as a member of team. This helps not only build students' confidence but also solve their problems quickly and effectively. Working as a team enhance student’s knowledge as well as student’s patience by acquiring another member’s information and making them be more useful and beneficial to a project that they are working together. To be honest, team work also has some disadvantages. For instance, when a group work need to finish a certain project, one member of this group doesn’t complete their parts and their job as well, this member will affect to other members in group, make work speed slower, and result late submission or process of this project. In addition, when members of a team work together, they can have contradictory or unending debate. Even that point, every student also need to have team work skill because this is one of the most important skills that they need to have to deal with problems that their future jobs require. Team work in college is an opportunity for students to perfect their abilities and their personalities as well. Group work is a key leading to a student’s success.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about group work. I happen to enjoy group work because it allows me to apply my leadership skills and offer direction. However, group work is a hit and miss when it comes to people fairly contributing to the assignment, which can be frustrating. That’s why I am a firm believer of peer evaluations at the end of group work assignments. This offers group members the opportunity to evaluate each other’s performance in determining their fellow peers work efforts which is done in most jobs. There’s always that one person in the group left to do all the work and are afraid to confront their group members. For instance, my daughter whom is in high school, was assigned to a group that did absolutely nothing because they knew she would take on the load to make sure she gets an A. She was left to do the research and a back aching 6’ x 4’ drawing all by herself. At the top of that drawing, that took three hours to complete, was her name along with the four names of the non-participating group members. Though, I took notice her in pride of the hard work she put in, I also noticed her frustration in the lack of group participation. Therefore, I introduced to her the power of peer evaluation. She was hesitant about throwing the group members under the bus, but I reassured her it would happen again if she didn’t nip it in the bud. Unfortunately, she didn’t take my advice on submitting a peer evaluation. However, I’m hopeful on the next group assignment she will consider my advice or and least confront them because this group was assigned to her for the rest of the year.
ReplyDeleteMiscommunication, uncooperative partners, and scheduling always tend to be a problem with working in group projects. But it is only going to be for the rest of people’s professional lives. First year students tend to have that problem more often than students who have experience with working in groups. But in my opinion, group projects are good for everybody. Multiple minds coming together to educate each other and having to depend on each other is a great setup for the professional world. One mind alone cannot accomplish the wonders that a group project will go through. There is much more in life than just getting a passing grade in class. It is crucial to see that group projects make those in the group accountable for doing their job, finishing on time, and coalescing with others to display what great minds can do together if they applied themselves. For group projects to work, one must overcome the negativities that cause group projects to fail. Otherwise, the group suffers a failure that can stump their growth in their professional life.
ReplyDeleteJarany
ReplyDeleteI believe teamwork is very important . Good group work has great potential for students in their future. The benefits of working together are increased productivity and performance, skills development , and also knowing more about yourself. You have the opportunity to work with others rather than yourself.
Working with a group of people can come with complications. Most people worry that bad things will happen if they say something . You can hope the problem corrects itself, but this strategy does not always work .Talk to them directly ,but speak to your group first. If you communicate with the members of the group work and mention that they are not putting in work and there is still no change, should be ok to kick the member out of the group and let your instructor know the issue.
Not only bad experiences come from group work there is more than just a few unique perspectives from all team members to create a great environment If you commit to what your part of the work in the team should be a fun and great environment. If everyone is doing a great job you should be able to have an awesome experience.
I personally think group work is the best way to work in college. It helps you in so many ways. For example, with your communication skills and even with making new friends. Working in a group also helps you if you don't really know what is going on with an assignment or you don't understand it, you can just ask someone in your group and they can most likely help you and explain it to you better. Working with groups is getting you ready for the future, with any job you have you are gonna have to work with others and communicate with each other to get your job done. You have to be willing to do your part in a group assignment because if you don't then you showing others that you can't work well with a group and you will not pass the class. The reality is, working with a group is always gonna be something you have to do in life so you might as well get used to it.
ReplyDeleteI believe that group work is beneficial since it teaches us how to work together. In the future for whatever career path we have taken, there will come a time where we will have to work with a partner or a group to solve a problem or come up with ideas. Having group projects or assignments in college is a great way to get students to be more socially proactive, sharing ideas and working together. Group work is also helpful for students who are confused about what to do on their assignments. Sometimes information can be misunderstood, and the professor may not be available at all times. Group work can help other students by explaining and answering any confusion that a student may have. For example, for History 1302, my group had a rough start on gathering information for our topic. Until later on, we decided to make a group chat and we were able to communicate with each other on what to do, what videos to watch and what links to click on Canvas. However, a problem with group work is when everybody is not available to work together. Which can be understandable for those who are full-time students, have a job and have to take care of their family. The biggest problem is for the people who hardly put in the effort in the group, causing others to do double the work. The only solution is to always have great communication with each other. Communication is key to achieving success, and without it, the group would ultimately fail. Everyone has different ideas and different ways to tackle a certain problem. By coming together, this will help the group to work together to solve a problem.
ReplyDeleteAs you surely know, we all learn in different ways. For some, it's more natural to work and learn in a group. For others, on the contrary, it is to be alone that allows them to learn better. Can we impose a particular way? Is there one better than the other?
ReplyDeleteWorking in a group helps to gain motivation. The group often has a dynamic that boosts. The group is the ideal setting to allow people who are often shy and who do not dare to speak to open up and find their place.
We share in a small group his ideas that will feed those of others and lead to very good ideas. In a small group one can also form friendly relationships. So of course, in a group we argue sometimes, we do not always agree, but we also laugh and we spend good times.
And with the agreement generates an easier division of labor. Rather than providing an immense work alone, here we divide the tasks, each one has a mission. Then we gather what we worked on and make one big project. It is a way of deepening oneself a notion, a domain, and then learning by transmitting what one has understood and learned, what one has worked on. And thanks to that, we transmit knowledge.
However, it can have disadvantages such as relational difficulties: several ways to understand and interpret things, several ways to manage conflicts, and therefore more difficulties in relationships. This leads to a loss of control and the lack of flexibility due to our interdependence that does not allow to move at our own pace.
Working in a group allows you to prepare for the professional world that awaits you when you graduate. Although I had experiences where I had to do with people who did not work at all, you deal with it and can sometimes create strong bonds with our teammates. You can strengthen your determination to finish a project on time.
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ReplyDeleteI personally tried to avoid working in groups in the past, except when it came to Math-related subjects. It is something that I’ve been working on since I started to take college classes because, as the professor mentions in this publication, I’ve noticed how important and crucial it is to work in groups and make friends to “survive” while you are in college.
ReplyDeleteI had the privilege to be invited to the National Society of Leadership and Success last semester. This honor society not only provided me the tools to become a great leader but also taught me about the different personalities that could have the members of a group and how to make it work when you are part of a team. It was not easy because I am an individualistic person, but after many activities and advice from the facilitators, I understood that everything is easier and faster when you are part of a group. Of course, that does not mean that I changed all the sudden. It was a process that took me the whole semester to adapt to this. That does not mean that I trust 100% of what my teammate is doing; I also double-check before turning in any paper or ask my teammate how he’s doing with his part of the project. Group works are a great way to get to know more people, to learn from one another and to make it to the top together.
In my opinion there’s a huge reason for college kids to be avoiding group projects and I completely understand it. People fear under-commitment as well as people’s availability. Now, does that mean I won’t participate? Of course not, as you stated, people may under preform their job at work as well. At college though it’s a very different set of circumstances. It comes down to three main factors. People are not being paid to do the work for college. I think there’s an argument to be made that you’re working for your degree which in turn can make you money. However, nothing talks like money in this world. To go along with that it’s a lot bigger obligation when the deadline at your job coincides with you not being fired and having a stable income. Lastly, I think it just comes down to people wanting to do whatever project it is. For work, more than likely you’re going to be enjoying what you’re doing. You paid to get a degree so you could do it as a profession right? At school its different. People may be taking a blow off class that they don’t have any interest in. Maybe they’re taking six classes and the class that your project is in is their least concern. When you take these and mix them together it becomes much more of a lottery if you are going to be able to get a good grade or not. While I do think it is important to learn how to work together in groups, I don’t necessarily think that forcing students to do so is the answer either.
ReplyDeleteThroughout high school group work had a big impact in my life. To group will only benefit if the people in the group get involved with it. You have to be able to connect with your partners that way all forget we can gather all ideas and details and turn them into something outstanding. Sometimes there will be people who won’t want to do work in that case what the rest of the group should do is get together as a team not only to get the work done but to encourage everyone to put effort into the task. Whether you agree or disagree everyone will have to be able to communicate with others to get a better outcome. As a human you will have difficulties and that’s when others will come in and give you a hand. The learning experience from teamwork will help group members learn their weaknesses and strengths.
ReplyDeleteI agree that working in groups is crucial for pretty much anyone. It teaches us how to communicate with one another and how to work together as individuals and as a team. I personally do not like working in groups because that is not the way I learn but participating in groups has taught me the importance of communication. If you have no communication skills, it will be really hard for you to get anywhere in life. Working in a group can also help boost morale and give you a sense of accomplishment knowing that you and your team worked together to finish your project. Sure, sometimes you may not all agree on what needs to be done, but again this gives you the chance to express yourself and your opinions in a productive way. By working in group, you are preparing yourself for your future and ensuring success in your life and in your work.
ReplyDeleteI am one of those people who absolutely dread working in a group. I think they are extremely awkward, and relying on people to do their work is easier said than done. Throughout my college classes I have had to be in groups to complete various projects and each time always turns out just as frustrating as the last. I do however, recognize the benefits to group work. Although it is difficult to rely on other people, I believe it teaches people how to successfully communicate in difficult situations. Not only does it improve communication skills, it teaches people to have a plan B. There is always at least one person in the group who doesn't do their part, and it has taught me to be prepared for that, both in school and in my professional life. Another beneficial aspect of group work is that it provides students with additional resources and ideas for when they need help, instead of asking the professors. Other than the aspect of being uncomfortable, groups are extremely beneficial to everyone.
ReplyDeleteI personally agree, because in some cases it can be uncomfortable by the lack of communication but as long we work it out in order to be in a team is by never giving up because after all you were made to be a leader. So as long you have the ambitious and the determination with your team by communicating properly and coming up with new ideas what should be made up before the assignment due, that's motiving you a your teammates to be successful.
DeleteI agree group work really teaches a person to have a plan B. I have been assigned to many groups throughout high school and was fortunate enough to not come across a college course that requires group work. My experience in high school was very bad. It was an egg project. The egg could not break if it did you automatically get a 0. With the group I was in the egg broke the first day with only one person touching it. The whole group received a 0 for 3 days straight. How fair was that. Since then I have always dreaded having group assignments. If I had a plan B my grade may have been better. Working in a group as an adult is a little more different because you can express your opinion to others without the person getting offended. Plus doing a group assignment as an adult you tend to get your part done because you are not just doing it for a grade, you are doing it for your livelihood and to keep your job.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do believe it is an important life skill to be a team player, I'm not sure if doing group work in an academic setting has the best carry over to the workforce. I would venture to say that most college students have worked a job at one point or another and could agree that their position didn't require group effort to achieve their daily responsibilities. I understand the idea and concept of group effort and success, but I don't believe it benefits college students the way professors would like to think. Group assignments are often not designed in a way that work can be divided equally amongst the group, which means some people do less or even nothing at all. I also don't think that most college students, especially traditional freshman see the relationship between group work and being a team player so the assignment gets treated with little regard, which in turn effects the groups grade. I personally always try to avoid groupwork because I don't feel like anyone in the group will put in as much effort as me and I refuse to let my grades be left in the hands of others. If group work must be incorporated into academia then it should be done in a more applicable manner and have less of an effect on an individuals grade in a given course.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of group work is very bittersweet. As stated in the original post, many students dislike working in groups for fear of someone neglecting their project duties. Up until this semester, I was this student. Moving further along in my major has forced me to see group work in a completely different way. Group work has become a form of practice. My major is engineering, and there is not a single thing on this Earth that was designed completely by one person. Of the five classes that I have, three of them require regular group work. Yes, there is still always that one person that contributes noticeably less than the rest of the group, but again a good way to look at that is practice for whatever career. An upside to group work is the chance to collaborate with like minds. Just as there are those who don’t care, and wont work, most of us will. The knowledge we present to these groups allow us to feed off of each other, sometimes in ways we don’t immediately notice. You make pick up bits and pieces of others work ethic, you may learn that you are or just aren’t an adequate leader, or you may realize that you learn better in more social settings with the chance to bounce your ideas off of someone. Group work in school is a way for each student to figure out which role they play in a professional setting. Speaking for someone who grew up avoiding group work whenever possible because I knew I’d get stuck with the majority of the work, there are so many benefits to group work that I now embrace. Group work should most definitely be incorporated into college classes.
ReplyDeleteBefore college I always, for the most part, despised group work. The main reason being because working with others required communicating, and I used to be extremely introverted. Growing up, I was always the quiet kid in class and I avoided talking to new people at all costs. Over the past couple of years, I have been working on improving my social skills and I have made tremendous progress. It is not so scary talking and interacting with people anymore, but I still hesitate a bit. I never knew about the benefits of group work until my senior year of high school when my English teacher explained how it helps us. We all perceive information differently and when students share with each other, it could give us a better understanding of the material. Being able to work with others successfully is also a skill we all should develop over time for our own sake. Now, I do not mind group work. Of course, it comes with its cons like having to rely on other people you aren’t familiar with, but it gives us the opportunities to improve our social, problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
ReplyDeleteGroup work is something definitely for me. I have always enjoyed socializing with other students. It also definitely does help me understand what the professor is talking about when it comes to any assignment or a lecture in general that I am to nervous or embarrassed to bring up to the professor to talk about . Just having another student who actually gets it and explains it to me differently helps a lot more than having no idea what to do. When looked up, I learned that only 14.2% of people enjoy working alone. And that just goes to show a large percent of other people enjoy working in groups. Although I do understand that working in groups can be risky due to working with people who won’t do anything and you get this large load of work to yourself. Or sometimes you can get a really good group and has everyone doing their part in the project.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, the benefits of teamwork not only improve work efficiency but also save a lot of time and effort. Because no one is perfect, no one can handle everything, so we need to work in a team, focus on everyone's strengths and complement each other to get the job done well. Best. In order to come up with good, new ideas, the whole team will need to have meetings, discussions, opinions, questions, defend ideas, and finally come up with, select filter, make a decision. For example, through such discussions your ability to communicate as well as your interpersonal, discussion and listening skills will be improved day by day. During teamwork, the whole team needs to discuss ideas, then discuss feasibility among ideas, then select good ideas that can be used as strategic levers for If you work alone, you will have to think alone to find an idea, then find relevant information to determine the quality of the idea. Should we decide on this idea next? Or have to find new ideas? And if you're looking for a new idea, you have to start over. We can clearly see the benefits of teamwork. This is not only a skill to improve the efficiency of work but also helps to save a lot of time and effort. Effective teamwork skills are a combination of many important life skills such as communication skills, listening skills, planning skills, etc. Therefore, want to succeed in teamwork, each individual People in the group need to focus on developing themselves and trusting, supporting each other for common goals. That is the factor that brings success to each of us.
ReplyDeleteJust like any college student I have mixed feelings about group work. I’ve Always dreaded working in groups because I feel like there’s always going to be setbacks made that other people have to pick up that wasn’t even their responsibility. It's not necessarily because I'm an introvert because there's always going to be a person that's not committed to doing what they are supposed to do. However I do feel like group work can help people get more involved and understand the course better by actually working outside of class. We've all had an experience just where everyone tries to do their part and there’s always going to be one student that messes it up for everyone in the group, and I understand that there can be miscommunication or even busy schedules but, I feel like there should be no excuses from anyone. That’s why I like team evaluations, because that’s when you Can held certain teams members accountable and that’s where everyone’s work is reflected on. At this point I understand that it should be expected to do some group work during the semester, I don’t mind, and even though there is a lot of issues in group projects it allows us to develop more social skills and group working skills that can benefit us in the future.
ReplyDeleteIn my view, the idea of group work is good but then bad and can even become stressful at times. Because of the fact that you are working with different people obviously, and everyone had different thoughts on how you all have to go about the assignment in school and or in work. And also there is going to be sometimes rough patches, and what i mean by that is that you may not agree with them 24/7 and there may be disagreements within the group but you still have to find a way to work it out. Another thing is that there is people who work slower than others and do not put in as much effort or contribute as much as the rest of the group. The cons of working in a group though is that you get many different ideas and you get to work in a team and each and every one of us can correct and help each other out. Since there is usually a lot of communication and discussions when it comes to group work, you may bounce off ideas of one another and learn more as you learn how to work effectivively in a group project.
ReplyDeleteDuring high school my JROTC instructors made the whole class take a quiz called winning colors; in that quiz each student was assigned a color based on their personality traits. There was brown the builder, blue the relater, red the adventurer, and green the planner. After, we were taught to identify each color and how to work with them. I was classified as a green, meaning that I like to think and create ideas by myself. I find it difficult to communicate my ideas with the rest of the colors. I get nervous that my ideas are going to be judged or not taken seriously. I rather work alone, but that is unrealistic because my career path requires me to communicate with others. Therefore, working in a team for a school project or in a part time job can be a great opportunity for me and everyone to learn to communicate and work alongside different types of personalities. As long as everyone in the group communicates.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of working together as group is that more minds think better then just one. In high school most of my teachers would split us into groups and made us get to know each other but the one I time I learn something from a group was when we were asked to talk about are the person we are in the group and each person had a special “job”. We had the leader which was the leader of the group , the observer who didn’t say much notice every detail, then there is the thinker would come up with ideas and would shape them as needed and finally there is the one person no one wants I their group because he doesn’t participate in anything but yet he gets credit for everyone’s hard work. In college the situation is the same its just that people are more open then in high school. It is better to work as a group that by yourself
ReplyDeleteFrom personal experience, working in a group can be quite beneficial. The work is divided in a way that everyone can spend more time focusing on one topic and explain it to others so that everyone gets a thorough explanation of the topic at hand. Along the same lines, being able to teach a subject thoroughly to ones mates increases the likelihood of having a better understanding of the topic. The hardest parts of working in a group is when someone fails to do their portion and it falls to the rest of the group to make sure their project is complete so as to get a full grade. Some try to shirk responsibility to get the highest grade with the least amount of effort knowing that their teammates will pick up the slack. Having an administrator facilitate disagreements and hold the students responsible for their participation or lack thereof is a great way to avoid this problem. All in all, group work is a learning experience socially and within the environment of people working towards a common goal.
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ReplyDeleteI believe working in groups is effective. I happen to work in groups throughout my high school years. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, but I've had my experiences and one thing it taught me was how to take leadership. An example of this is, when my group and I would just sit in silence or they would start on the assignment without consulting everyone else, nobody would talk to anyone or nobody would want to take action. I would then step up, assign their parts, split the work and ask if everyone were okay with what they got & if they wouldn’t then we will come up with something else. Which lead me to my communication skills without interaction with anyone we wouldn’t get anywhere, no work will be done nor will it help in the long run. In addition, it taught me to be open minded. Especially in my Engineering class, brainstorming is key for that class; literally anything, it could be an idea that would be big or small, we would take it and make it work if it applied to what we were doing. In my senior year we were to invent a new device that could help people, whether it be a disability, a shoppers cart, the windshield wipers, your headphones, etc. The range was endless. The first thing that we did was write down a list of things that answered to: “Don’t you hate it when..” After brainstorming and researching, we invited a device that would help people with early onset stage of Alzheimer’s remember where they have left their belongings. Another thing it has taught me is patience. I am the type of person that likes things done fast; however when assigned to a group member that likes to take his time and they work on it on their time. It would drive me insane because I would want it done right there and then, it happened more than what I would’ve wanted to. Working in a team means getting things done quicker. We split the work amongst ourselves and turn in the assignment faster. We used to do this great amount of times. It’s always great to learn how to work with each other and I would always support working together. I believe everyone should have some experience with teamwork. Especially when going into the medical field, like I am or anything else that has to do with group work.
I love to do group work when everyone puts in the effort to succeed. I have worked in many areas where some fall short of carrying their own weight. Why do I think it is helpful? Well, just as you stated we can learn good things from each other. This can range from techniques in writing to what’s our best practices. It is very discouraging when only one person does all the work or even takes the work serious. That’s exactly how real-life work is. I am a leader by nature and love to initiate as well as help when asked questions but to simply expect me to do everything in a group project is just and injustice. Group work is meant for everyone to contribute to the topic that has been selected. You can really learn a lot about a person in group work. Who are the overachievers? Who is the content person? Who is the lost person? Who just simply doesn’t care? How do we fix this? We can’t force anyone to play their part. An example is my History class. No one took the initiative to find a means of communication, so I suggested Canvas or text message. As an adult student, I wear different hats throughout the day. I am a mom, student, wife, daughter, and sister. I have also been a manager in companies that has exposed me to finding a solution to a problem. I think outside of the box and like to ask for help or assistance when needed. Group work is awesome and easy when everyone has the same objective of succeeding. It is a little harder when you have people that don’t know how to ask for help, don’t try, play lost, or even just don’t care.
ReplyDeleteWhen students first think about group work, usually it is the challenges dealing with human social interactions such as “personality conflicts, differing expectations, worried about criticism, and varying levels of buy-in or resistance” (Hodges, 2017). Some students may even not contribute much (social loafing), because they fear the judgment of other members in the group. Students may even struggle cognitively. For example, their individual’s usual processes of memory retrieval might be disrupted, due to multiple students speaking and contributing ideas. Therefore, it is not always guaranteed that group work could improve student learning outcomes or satisfaction (Andrews, Leonard, Colgrove, & Kalinowski, 2011).
ReplyDeleteHowever, if used correctly, group work can help students apply concepts, solve problems, and engage cognitively with course content, with the student of peers. For instance, one way to help reduce student resistance and social loafing is for the instructor to promote awareness of, and provide feedback on, student perceptions of one another’s contributions through peer evaluation (Aggarwal & O’Brien, 2008). In addition, one benefit of group work is that it can help student develop metacognitive skills, which the ability to think about and monitor one’s own thinking and learning (Sandi-Urena, Cooper, & Stevens, 2012).
In the link that was provided in this blog, one of the things that were interesting to me was the lesson plan roles for group members (facilitator, task manager, etc.). This is relatable to my personal experience because when I had my philosophy class, I had to do a group paper and presentation. Each person had their own role, which made the group communicate and assist each other at times because the roles were dependent on each other. Once learning the strengths and weaknesses of each member, the roles were switched by the next project to ensure that it was more efficient.
The idea of group work is a hassle for me since I am one to shy away if uncomfortable. However, I do benefit from it and others do to. It is important to have assignments that rely on group work because kids learn from the experience. Students who are engaged in group work show increased individual achievements such as communication, problem solving, management skills, assessment skills, etc. They are also prompt to learn new material, refine, and demonstrate their knowledge to others (Ambrose et al. 2010; Eberlein et al. 2008). It can also create more opportunities for critical thinking and advances the students learning and achievements.This experience of being able to demonstrate and teach others carries over to their career. Therefore, employers value effective oral and written communication skills as well as the ability to work effectively within diverse groups (ABET 2016-2017; Finelli et al. 2011). All these skills are critical to successful teamwork both in the classroom and workplace.
ReplyDeleteGroup work is a great way to get someone out of their comfort zone. It requires students to make new friends and communicate about their own ideas. Communication methods could be group Face-time, if everyone has an iPhone, or use apps such as group me or WhatsApp. Unlike in high school, it is a lot harder to make new friends in college because in high school many students go to the nearest high school and come in contact with the same people they were friends with in middle school. I have never really had any major issues with having to work in a group, until this year. For instance, the lack of communication in my group will definitely affect my grade in this class. Lack of communication led to procrastination and sure enough I will see the consequences in my grade. Furthermore, group work will follow us through adulthood, such as, in the workforce as previously mentioned in the post. I work at a pharmacy in Walgreens. The environment is full of teamwork. Teamwork is learning to work together and help one another rather than leaving a single person to do the task. If my team at work refuses to work together there will be unpleasant consequences: patients will be furious that their medication is not ready on time, phones will ring endlessly, the pharmacy will get bad reviews and possible even close down. To make matters worse, everyone will get fired and will need to find a new job. Communication is vital to successfully completing a task. Without communication, ideas will not be neatly organized and a set goal will never be met. Other than communication, competence and a good attitude is important in group work. Students/coworkers need to willingly divide the work, so everything can be completed efficiently and on time. A good attitude ensures a friendly environment for everyone to get along; if no one is getting along than there will not be any communication. This will possibly lead to failure. In conclusion, communication, competence, and good attitudes are important in group work.
ReplyDeleteHi Gladys,
DeleteI agree that communication is vital, in any area of life. Workplace, classroom, personal relationships all require great communication to be successful. Not just communication, though, effective communication. Many people fail to realize that being a great listener is important in communicating effectively. We have to be great listeners. We also should pay attention to body language and tone. And ask for clarification rather than assume you know based on your own perspective. Think about customer service and how it heavily relies on great communication. As a customer, you want to know that the person providing services to you understands you and is listening to you. The only way that can happen is by communicating. Lack of communication, in many instances, just makes things that much more difficult and often leads to misunderstandings. There is no guessing or assuming when you take initiative to communicate. Some people are better at communicating than others, but the more you take interest in learning how to do it, properly, the better you become at it.
Whether in a job or school setting, group work can be beneficial. I’ll admit, many times I prefer working alone due to not having to rely on others to get the job done or simply a difference in personality. At the same time, I also understand that when you put different people together, from different backgrounds and thought processes, it can provide new and sometimes better ideas. In order to prepare for the workforce and working as a team or group while doing so, experience in other facets of life, such as school helps. Working in a group setting allows you to hone in on skills needed, such as communication skills and thinking skills, but it only works if everyone participates. Group work allows you to recognize your strong points and also the areas you need to improve on. For example, in one of my other classes, students are given the assignment of posting their work on a discussion board to have other students provide their thoughts and suggestions, while you also provide feedback on what you think about the read. Certainly, this can cause a bit of hesitancy initially, but hearing the views from other students helps you become a much better student. Overall, group work helps you in the long run.
ReplyDeleteTell us about your experience in working as a member of a team.
ReplyDeleteIn the past I have done group work and it has been easy simple work nothing to hard to get done. I enjoyed working in groups when I was younger, I think it was more fun and easy. When I say easy it was like coloring a map, to make/draw an animal, powerpoint of something we have learn in class, or simply getting together in a group to answer questions the teacher handed to us in a piece of paper. Since I started college this is my first semester were teachers have put us into groups. My expectations were so different to what I have experience. For example for this class my group is of 7 people. At first 7 was a little to much but I was like okay we can work it out and it can actually make things easy and we can actually finish faster. In my head I was like we going to have 7 brains which will be good, there should be no complications, we got this!!!!. Yea, I was totally wrong and I never picture telling someone to do things so many times or just repeating ourselves over and over again. Instead of us just focusing on our part of the essay we also had to focus on each person to make sure they were doing what they were suppose to be doing. In our group we actually had to be behind 2 boys and drag them to finish line like my teacher says. As a group we made the mistake of leaving things last minute and also not having good communication with each other. I think communication is a big key to a group and its something we failed to do from the start. When the due date was getting closer that’s when we all decided that it was time to start on our essay. Everyone gather information together and we all put it together but what took us long and put us behind was that we did everything with out actually getting together physically everything we did was behind the screen and in my opinion that made it so much complicated and also there was people deleting information you wrote and put together (hours of gathering information/putting it togehter). Yet, they were messing with your stuff but they didn’t have anything done not even a sentence. That’s when I started to feel some type of way and that person was also one of the person that wanted the stuff to be ready so we can show our teacher our process but yet there was no effort from that person there was just telling and bossing everyone around. I can say that this group work has been one of the stressful/ mind-blowing experience I have gone through and I can say that I have learn from it. I have learn to be PATIENT, comprehensive, understanding and that having communication is the key to a great non-stressful group work. I can honestly say I learn from my errors from everyones point of view as well as their errors and what it can be done to prevent those mistakes from happing again in our second group work.
Group work can be something challenging but at the same time and eye opener. It makes you realize that if you don’t put a 100% of your part your group is either going to fail or just not move on that easily without them pushing you or dragging you to finish putting your part. You also show what kind of person you are in the way that you’r lazy or just uncaring. Being in a group is about being committed and to be there for one another no matter what’s going on. Why ? Well first of because you’r a team and team work is about working together and crossing the finish the line together. Its about everyone putting their part and also doing the work as a team and not just one person focusing in one thing and another focusing in another because that’s actually working by yourself. To be fair with one another about work. For everyone to get the same amount of work and for everyone to work equally.
When I hear “group work” my heart just drops, I am very shy when It comes to interacting with other people. Although I am very shy, I know I have to get work done in order for a grade, so I just do it. Group work has its pros and cons, when it comes to the pros, everyone in the group gives off different ideas, the work is shared, and you meet different people. When it comes to the cons, sometimes not everyone in the group puts in effort, and you have to work with different attitudes and temperaments, and it may create conflict. When I started playing soccer, I realized how important groupwork was, one person couldn’t play every position at a time and try to win the game. We had to learn to trust our teammates, even though sometimes mistakes were made. Teamwork is built out of many principles, for example respect, trust, responsibility and discipline to name a few, I think that is the reason why teachers and professors implement it in their courses.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I do not like group work because of the obvious problem that a member out of the group will not participate and complete their part. I would rather work alone in which I will only get the credit for the work I completed, rather than sharing credit with lazy group member. In my experience, I am always paired with a group member that doesn’t complete their part and I am left to do all the work. Due to this continuous issue, I always notify the teacher of the problem and I receive full credit for all the work I've done on my own. Although, working in a group is important and you are able to collaborate different ideas and obtain knowledge from each other. Working in a group, you are able to visualize different skills amongst members and how everyone thinks differently of a topic. Also, working in a group with particular individuals you are able to put any conflict to the side and come together to work equally and achieve a high grade. Working in a group is only successful when all the members put in effort and complete their part.
ReplyDeleteYou have said most of what I have always thought in my learning journey as well. But as I read your post, I think that in group work I have also become more of a leader because someone had to step up and assure that we get the work done. It does enhance the level of learning and confidence in someone who really would rather be in the background. As you said it is extremely important that everyone participates otherwise it will be all for naught. If every one in the group take part and look into their strengths in order to work harmoniously that is when things become fun and worthwhile for sure.
DeleteThrough your course I have learned the importance of groupwork, and I will go further into detail as to why, but I would like to start by saying I was a person who abhorred groupwork. Groupwork since childhood – elementary, middle, and high school – always left me feeling exhausted since I was one of the few who truly understood the material and that left me having to teach and re-explain the lecture or material the teacher had already explained to the students working with me. I never understood why they didn’t comprehend the material as I usually didn’t have a problem with any of it, until calculus, and even then, managed to get by without any help. I’ve always been more independent with learning what is required outside of a classroom and groupwork just terrified me.
ReplyDeleteI have learned, now, that everyone is not an independent learner, and everyone learns differently, some independently and some prefer groupwork. Your requirement for students working in groups really helped me gain an understanding of others. In one of my groups I have really been exposed to how someone’s home life can really affect what they can contribute to the group. I have learned to be open minded and remember that there are more factors than just a person and the work at hand that affect the group as a whole. I have also learned people are more than capable of sharing the workload with guidance as to what exactly their workload is. In one of my groups we have those who contribute ideas to what the paper should be, we have someone who is good at writing, and someone who is a very helpful editor. Knowing our strengths has contributed to our group’s success. Yes, there are some people who just don’t want anything to do with actual work but want the credit and your exercise of working in groups has also taught me how to handle those types of people. Overall, I have learned how to navigate through a group setting and I don’t feel it is a chore to help others anymore. Also, I learned the importance of groupwork and how different people have different ideas to offer and everyone working together can create work that is different, and sometimes better, than something a single person with one set of ideas can create.
When students are assigned to groups, many of them are shy, and lack communication to contribute to their specific section. However, group projects and teamwork are very important qualities to have in everyday situations. These qualities allow individuals to receive many outstanding opportunities such as higher authority in job sites, invitations to job opportunities and recognition in one's abilities to contribute and work as a team. When applying to universities and higher paying jobs, the interviews consists of fully revised resumes, applications and most importantly interviews. Many of the time, individuals who have good communication and teamwork skills tend to receive the position. Higher paying jobs, want individuals who are responsible and are trustworthy to contribute as a team and are able to acknowledge a problem when it has occurred rather than leaving it alone.
ReplyDeleteAs a college student, I have learned and understood that teamwork and leadership skills are very important qualities to maintain in an individual's success. Every individual will need some assistance with their work; moreover, teamwork is an amazing way to receive help and provide information within one another to fully understand whats going on.
Group work is an essential contentment for students at every level because of the impact they offer to the individuals who partake in it. They don't just prepare by impacting expected qualities in their future professions but they also make them gain some personal attributes which they go ahead to employ in the whole of their lives. I agree that group discussions are vital and important staircases in the education life of many students.in a self-context, I will explore some of the benefits one gets as a result of the group discussion. One benefit that students get in attending/having group discussions is the exposure and liberty of gaining self-confidence. When one is engaging with members that are of one's level ground or they share a certain commonality like being students, they tend to discuss in broad a lot of things which otherwise wouldn't be able to achieve when you are just being taught by the teacher. This value of knowing you can be depended upon by your peers to offer a certain attribute in the learning platform gives one a sense of confidence and self-belief in what you are doing.be it in the education platform or even life-wise structure. Also indulging in group discussions teaches one to have a creative and motivated viewpoint towards things. you learn to be responsible in a manner, the thought of looking like a failure in the site of your peers isn't by all means appealing and so this prepares you to gauge into different duties and responsibilities hence shaping you for the greater responsibility in the future. Groups are also learning platforms for so many things among them essential qualities in life such as honesty, self-drive, responsibility, and above all social traits in endeavoring how to socially work together as a team member. Among many things one has the chance to improve personally and prepare well for the advances in life since in there, you got no one guiding you in every step but rather everything is self-driven and team-oriented. Therefore, concerning the blog, the content is important and vital when it comes to a student’s life.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of group work because whether it's in school or job setting, I love to be able to voice my opinion and give my thought and idea on different situations. At first, I was shy like many students are when it comes to group work because of the lack of communication one may receive. With the concept of this group work it helps build one's communication skills, develop their critical thinking and helping encourage active learning. Involving yourself in these type of group activities you grow more over time and become more confident when it's time to involve your thoughts with a group of people you may or may not know but can help bring a positive vibe and flow. In a group of diverse people you, can also learn new things from one another on their culture and how they view things.
ReplyDeleteHello Lakecea, i totally agree with you, when i was in in middle school i was shy when it came to group work because i was scared to share my ideas or if i was wrong. Then on one point i started working and i knew that i needed to improve my communication skills so that i will help customers etc. After months working i was not shy no more i was like the leader when it came to group work and i saw myself growing into someone that i didn't knew i was going to be.
DeleteGroup work encourages students to be more proactive in applying themselves and the lessons that they are learning. It is a great tool to use in strengthening critical thinking and facilitating effective teamwork. According to the video, when students are tasked to teach or present to their fellow students it also helps them retain this information for longer because they themselves have to understand what they are trying to impart to others. The level of understanding is a lot deeper compared to when being lectured to. The level that a group could learn together is exponentially more beneficial to learning because there is a sort of collaboration and brainstorming involved. It enhances the lessons and make it more effective, but the level of participation from each student is essential.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion group projects do not work for online classes which do not provide anyone the time to actually collaborate together and in person. It is either, have time to do the group work in class or meet up outside of class time to work on it which truly does not seem doable for adult learners. I did not mind at all doing any group projects as long as it was done in class and did not require us to take time out of our personal time.
In my opinion, group work only works if every member of the team wants the same result. For example, if everyone wants to an A in an assignment or want to impress the boss then the result of their work will be amazing. However, not every group is perfect because you always get a slacker, a complainer, a “I did not know” type of person, the list goes on and on. I do agree on what you had suggested however, record everything your group does so if something does go south you can cover yourself. Being in a group does teach you some form of responsibility because your members depend on you. Also, it teaches you how to interact with others and gives you a chance to voice your opinion on someone’s work ethic or how you feel how the project is going
ReplyDeleteGroup work will always be important because it helps you understand opinions and guide you through work that won’t be easy doing individually. Nobody can avoid group work because it will always be there points in your life. If someone is shy, then they will have to get over that because group work will help you in many ways to plan and manage time. One way that group work will help is socially by improving on communication skills, sharing your ideas and it will help on interviews for jobs or job meetings. Group work is important in any job and the only way is to be comfortable with talking to people because that helps you to have collaborate on sharing ideas. Group work is when everyone has a role to work together to achieve the goal. Without group work no one will be able to develop certain skills in their life.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest factors that contribute to the success of a business or school work is whether or not the group members are able to perform together a team. Working in teams enables people to be quicker and more effective in their work, as compared to people who work on projects solo. Collaborating also makes employees more responsible, which goes a long way in raising their motivation levels, especially when teams work virtually. In my opinion there are many ways that collaborating can benefit your work such as people taking equal part of the work. Brainstorming coming from multiple people can help complete the task at hand faster and offering various perspectives to provide the solutions necessary. On the business side, collaboration is beneficial for the employees as well as the organization because when they work together, interact and share ideas, they see and understand how others work, think, negotiate and operate. This benefits the employees by not only getting a chance at owning new skill but building on their own strengths as well. As a college student and having a full time job I view collaborating with work as a plus. Personally it has helped me grow more as a person and learn new ways I can improve myself and also others.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as I would hear “Get in groups”, I would feel anxious. I tend to be reserved and quiet around people I don't know. But, the older I get, the more I realize that having social-skills is an essential and an asset as an adult. At times working in a team can be a bit challenging. There is this very popular meme on social media that describes how a group project works; the one who does 99% percent of the work, the one who has no idea what is going on, the one that says is going to help but never does, and the one that disappears and shows up till the very end. Sometimes it works that way in school, but recently at my job, I’ve had to work with my coworkers to bring new ideas to the table. We start by sharing our ideas, or experiences. If I were to come up with new ideas or designs by myself, they would probably not be as good as they are now with the help of my coworkers. They do say that two brains work better than one. At the end of the day we finish our plan with everybody's help, and it is always a success.
ReplyDeleteGroup work is a requirement in many if not all future professions, but it is a skill that does require learning tactics. In essence, not everyone may find comfort in working with others. Although working with group members may mean that a project can be divided evenly, it also requires communication to ensure that ideas and information correspond to one another. Unfortunately, not every person is persistent enough to actively participate in group projects. In some cases, a variety of ideas can be challenging in that finding a solution can be troublesome. In group work, students are meant to have an open-minded thought process. There should not be a feeling of judgment or shame in sharing one’s thoughts, but in some cases, ideas will collide. If a compromise is not made, then there will be difficulty in moving forward with completing the project that is assigned. Although group work means everyone given a split of the work.opinions may become blurred without guidance, which is why it is always a good idea to have a leader of the group.
ReplyDeleteHaving a leader would mean someone who is taking the initiative to ensure the group maintains the focus of the assignment at hand. A leader is open with its members and ensures every person has spoken and given their piece of mind even if that member may not be so outspoken. They would also be a buffer between the many conflicting perspectives a group may have and can easily talk to each of their members. A leader looks out in favor of the group as a whole and not just for themselves.
Group work is one of the many steps that contributes to success because you learn to work with other people, socialize with different groups and get to know the world. Each person has their own way of working and even if they tend to think they have a perfect system to finish assignments, many can learn a new thing or two from working in a group. At first it may not be easy, considering how many don’t like when others judge their ideas or tell them that they are doing it wrong. But it helps to improve in how you look at a problem and figure it out how you can fix it.
ReplyDeleteGroup work can be helpful in times when a big project is due and one single person can’t do all the parts in time for the due date. In groups, one can split the workload among the members, each person giving their own point of view and making the project more diverse with different ways of explanations. In some occasions, there might be times when one member or two do not finish their part of the project or are not contributing at all to the workload. This seems to happen because either the member feels as if the others don’t listen to their ideas and often get ignored or because the person just isn’t compatible with group work.
For instance, we recently did a group project where my team members and I had to write an analysis essay. We had six members in our group, where we had access to a group chat. All but one of the members didn’t contribute at all to their part, leaving us five who did meet up to pick up their load and make sure our project was still finished. Why do their part? We take it as us doing the work but making sure we let the professor know that one member failed to comply with his job. We can’t leave it uncomplete. Group work can isn’t always easy to deal with but can leave you with new working techniques that might help you grow in the future and make sure you are in the right path to success.
During middle school and most of high school I would hate when a teacher would say we were working in groups for an assignment, but now I see the benefits of it and quite enjoy it for a few reasons. First, I always catch myself working harder in a group setting than if I was to work by myself. I do this because I want my part of the assignment or my input in the group to actually matter, so I perfect whatever responsibilities I have. Second, I always learn the material of the assignment better in a group. I care so much about earning a good grade that I will make sure we have hit all of the required categories of a certain assignment, so I will go over the whole assignment a few times. For example, last week in my biology class we worked as a team to complete our test review and I went over all the answers a few times to see if they made sense and were correct. Third, I love working as a group because we get to be social. I love meeting new people and having discussions about things that have importance and in school most of the group assignments bring up real issues. Of course I have some dislikes about working in groups like when some of the members do not help, but in my case I see that less and less as I get older because people are in college for themselves and they do the work to earn the grade.
ReplyDeleteGroup work is a major part of our future careers as you say. Group work isn’t my favorite but right now I could use the practice. Many things could go wrong when it comes to group work from lack of communication to people within your group not even showing up. They might not meet the criteria needed to complete the project. At the end of the day the work is graded with or without your part. We are not all similar we can show each other new ideas, methods and better communication. In my experience with group work I ended up having poor communication and I was completely shy with my group members. Being shy is one of the main reasons why I don’t like group work. I felt very disappointed in myself for receiving a grade I did not 100% participate in.
ReplyDeleteGroup work means a group of members working together to achieve a specified task. When every member of the group collaborates with their own part that has been assigned, it makes easier for the rest of the group to finish the assignment. A successful group work consists of participation, communication, and patience. Participate with the group don’t shy away from the members. Work on doing your assigned part, that way no one else ends up doing your part last minute. Communicating with other classmates about how much work they have done, if they have any issues with finding any information related to the topic, how are they planning to put all their parts of the projects together. Replying to messages when they ask questions. Patience with each other, some people might work slower than others. Sometimes other people in the group do not cooperate with completing their part of the project and that might cause anger in some people. Honesty with the other group members in case of an issue if you are not able to complete your part of the project. Group work might be an issue when it comes to working with a group of people you don’t know because you don’t know the pace they like to work at. Some people do not participate at all, making such a task really difficult. In the end group work should be a team effort and everybody should be liable for their part, while also getting along. For that being said, group work will be a task most likely given to you the rest of your professional life. Meaning you need to be ready for these hardships and challenges.
ReplyDeleteGroup work is something that throughout the years hasn’t failed to intimidate me. I shy away from group work to this day and choose to work by myself if the option is given. I’d say partially this is due to the fact that I have always been an independent person, learning to do most things by myself without asking others for help. As I’ve grown older, I’ve come aware that group work is necessary in most aspects of everyday life. Taking schoolwork as one of the biggest examples, I recently had a very eye-opening experience when it comes to working in groups. At the beginning of the schoolyear, we were assigned our group and topics for our first OER. As soon as this was assigned I had a feeling I would have trouble collaborating with such a large group but little did I know how bad it could get. The smooth part was exchanging information with each other, what we really had trouble with was actually communicating and finding times where we could actually come together as a team and collaborate on our assignment. Soon enough the due was approaching and all we had was a shared google document with scattered and repetitive information from different group members, some which had merely copied and pasted from a website. It wasn’t till one of the group members stepped up and decided to take charge of our document and pressured us to come together to work as a team that we actually collaborated and made a paper out of the clutter of information we had. I now see how important it is to be a team player when it comes to group work and how communication is key so that time is not wasted and work is done efficiently.
ReplyDeleteSome people get really enthusiastic about group assignments, while others view them with suspicion and dread. Usually what they fear most is the prospect of working with someone who’s hugely enthusiastic about group assignments. But does collaboration benefit our learning? Or is a camel just a horse designed by committee? In other words, is group work actually less efficient and productive than an individual performing a task alone? As is almost always the case when humans are involved, the truth varies. Assuming there are no particularly irksome or troublemaking individuals upsetting the group harmony, there are some ways working in groups can be helpful when it comes to learning, and other ways in which it may be more of an obstacle. So, here are the pros and cons of teamwork.
ReplyDeleteGroup work develops creativity and produce effective way to deal with challenges. It helps minimizing stress among people working in a group to achieve the same goals. While in college, group work do not work well with many students including me. Failure to any college group work can be caused due to several reasons but the most obvious reason is some group members not contributing in same amount as other members. Comparing college group work and a professional multinational companies like Halliburton and Boeing can only be as an example to motivate students towards handling group complications. These bigger companies group work and college group work does not have much similarities to compare each other because group members selected in these companies are professional and there is always someone to monitor everyone's contribution whereas students do not get this facilities while working in groups in college. Based on my experience, many professors in college put students into group regardless of their interest to work in groups and are asked to handle any complications that occurs by themselves. This method of assigning group work has always affected at least one group of students on average in class which results to the bad grades despite they have worked hard from their side. However, no doubt that group work helps in understanding some tasks better by viewing and analyzing with different perspectives but prior to group formation, student's interest in group work should be addressed. Group work is effective but not the mandatory step towards success, some might be an extremely talented group working for NASA space research whereas some can also be a solo basic fundamental creator for further research by that group work like Albert Einstein.
ReplyDeleteI believe that group work is good if you are able to get out of your comfort zone; communication is required if you want to succeed with your project. Working as a team is very important. It has great potential for students in their future and it benefits them when working with others. However, working as a group is bittersweet. The idea is to be able to connect our ideas with each other and make the progress be smooth. But often group assignments are not set up in a way to where everything can be divided equally. Making it easy for someone in the group to slack off and not do their part, making other in the group stress because now they are having to do more than what they should. Miscommunication is one of the biggest problems when it comes down to group assignments because if you don’t communicate with your team members, they will not know what needs to be done and by when. But other than communication, patience and being nice with one another is important when it comes to group work.
ReplyDeleteGroup work itself is never bad and can prove to help many students learn in an environment that is comfortable with them. But of course, you have many people that like to slack off and goof off in the group. If everybody in school would have known that they would have been doing group work for the rest of their life, then why has the school not provided more group work throughout the years that we have been attending. For me, I know group work will never be a problem. I can talk to anybody if I want to but there's always someone Who does not want to participate in the task that is at hand. So really group work is a great idea to have in a school system, but there needs to be an equal grading system for each person to individually receive their grade based upon what they have done and then maybe they themselves will work harder in order to get a better grade next time.
ReplyDeleteI see the advantages in group work as well as the disadvantages. I also see where working as a group can be a good experience and where I think it may be challenging. In the workplace you have people that preform great as a team and those that don’t. One person may end up doing most of the work on a project. I have had to work as a team with a coworker before. My coworker was not a team player and decided she didn’t want to work with me as she didn’t feel as though I had the skills necessary and I would slow down performance. We ended up splitting the workload unevenly and working independently. I was given more work, but the task did not require equal skill. Because of this my coworker could not finish everything that was necessary before the deadline. At that point she asked me to give her a hand which resulted in conflict. In this situation production would been better if we had of worked together.
ReplyDeleteI also find many advantages of working as a group. A lot of companies us this method of teams to accomplish goals faster.
I think it works especially well when you have a diverse group because everyone is thinking differently, and you can collaborate to come up with better ideas. I believe that if everyone has a different skill set it is also beneficial as it brings more resources to the table and it is motivating and assuring when you know your team members all can contribute equally. When group members all know their roles and do not need supervision the group work is a successful. I find it difficult with online class work. Because communication is extremely important when working as group especially in an online class setting.
I find it to be time consuming especially if you can’t collaborate on times to work on the project together. In my experience group work was a success in online classes when everyone is assigned a certain part of the project but if not, just the decision-making process and waiting on a response from other time members can be daunting. When a group gets together there is a lot to be accomplished. First you have to learn how to function together and there has to be a leader. Then you have to realize the goals that need to be set. Then you have to agree on who is responsible for the different parts of the project.
Finally, when you get the time to perform together you may have some that are slackers and that well effect the entire group and due dates. So, for me I think groups work better in classrooms or in the workpl
Group work is one of the many steps that contributes to success because you learn to work with other people, socialize with different groups and get to know the world. I do not really like group work, but I need to practice and even put an accent on it because it will help me in the future. Many people like me are not comfortable in group because Many things could go wrong when it comes to group work from lack of communication (maybe because it is the first time to meet and you do not know each other) to people within your group not even showing up or even they show up, they start to talk about other things and forgot the main point. The best way to success in group work is to assign to each person his/her part so that nothing should be weigh to other and the work will go faster and faster.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I feel like there are some unpleasant factors in working in groups, I agree that it is necessary to have done it at least once in an academic setting, and to develop the skills needed to perform well in groups for the future. The future is all about collaboration: fitting different individual’s skills to make a creation/discovery that hopefully benefits all of mankind. Even on a smaller scale, the practice of having to deal with weak links such as lazy teammates or aggressive bosses is only beneficial, considering it as a likely situation to be in sometime in one’s career.
ReplyDeleteIqra Yamin
Working in the group assignments during this class has taught me to be more patient with others. I have learned that not everyone has the time, or makes the time, to dedicate to the work assigned. I have, or I should say had, a very low tolerance for people who did not put forth the same level of work ethic as me. Now, I understand that people have other things going on, such as still getting their life together from the most recent flood, and I should not be so quick to condemn them just because they are not as able to complete tasks within the same time frame as myself. I have gained a better understanding of how to treat others in situations regarding work assignments and that is something I am grateful for. I feel I have grown as a person overall because of this.
ReplyDeleteYour history courses have given me something no other courses at HCC have. The knowledge of working in a group setting. What I am learning through this experience is giving me useful skills that I can take into real life situations. I’m not saying my other courses have not been helpful. They have given me general knowledge about subjects I never expected to learn about, but they are not skills that I will be able to apply in a work setting and life in general.
Having to depend on others for a grade can be a really stressful situation. The reason is because at the end of the day you can’t force anyone. You can only force yourself to do it, and then some when your group members don’t pull through with their part. Group assignments can be a great thing, because it does teach you to have patience with others, and to also know how to better communicate within a team. But a majority of the time, you have at least one member that knows one person in the group that will do all the work, and will not contribute nor communicate what so ever. This is where all the stress comes to play. Since there is no communication, it puts you on edge to figure out if you need to continue. Overall I believe that having a group assignments can either make or break a grade from someone that actually works hard without the help of others, because they are simply lazy.
ReplyDeleteI honestly hate group projects because people aren't dependable, and that can be very stressful. I have a group project for my online Econ class which is easy, but I don't like depending on someone else for a grade. The project has taught me patience because the project is for an online class, so not every schedule will match. So far the project has been going great, and it will actually end up helping me get the grade I want. I can also add my experience in a group project when asked about it in a job interview, which is something I get stuck on. So, I guess in the end there is more pros to group projects than there is cons.
ReplyDeleteSOCIAL MEDIAL POST NO 5
ReplyDeleteMy Experience Working in a Group
Working together with other people for an assignment can be a challenging task in some cases but luckily, I worked well with my group members. The decisions we made were anonymous although we paced ourselves individually when it came to completing our separate parts of the essay. As a group I believe that we connected well on an interpersonal level as all four of us were able to make alterations to any problem together . Furthermore, we did not give each other a chance to get angry at one another as we knew that this would only cause conflict that would disrupt our flow as a group. There was an equal divide in the amount of work that we all did; our contributions were fair and no one was lacking behind. In addition, my group members were great at keeping each other informed if one of us were not able to attend a group meeting; emails were sent out informing us what we missed and ideas that were formulated. Everyone in my group worked according to deadlines and in synchronization with each other; we did not have to nag anyone to complete work or wait on a member to complete their task. I strongly encourage my fellow students to indulge in group work.
I completely understand and I agree with all the premises given for why group work is so important. However, group work in my opinion is just more work, stress, and exhaustion that is not need it. When it comes to group work the most tedious thing is the group schedule. It is hard to come upon agreement about a schedule in which we can all come together to work on the project/paper and be on the same page. Most of the time we have to relay on communication through an app and that is just irritating, because no one ever response in time. But putting my ranting aside, I know that group work those improve our social/communication skills.
ReplyDeleteGroup work is an important part of everyday life and work, especially in American society where we are expected to get work done at any hour of the day or night. As an individual it is important to become adaptive in situations where it may be required to work as a member of a team. This is something that psychologists, for example, love to work on with people in their early years so that individuals can live healthy social lives along with others around them. It is imperative that we make ourselves adaptable to certain social situations such as, bonding with others as a team, taking on a task that is relied on by others, and having to work harder because some members of the team may not feel inclined to do their share of work. For example, when I was assigned to a group for my OER assignment, the group all worked together to get the paper done and help each other when help was needed. The group did not have any problems with unresponsive members, in fact, we grew a bond with one another and became friends in the process. These are the basic and possibly most common situations that one may face when working in a team. Working as a member of a team can benefit you greatly in the long run, so you can either be the member that does nothing and gets nothing in return or be the one that gets the job done and becomes all the more knowledgeable.
ReplyDeleteGroup work is an important asset that should be integrated in our families, at work, in churches, schools etc. It helps us build a better and greater bond with others and helps us learn and value their opinions too, especially working in a group that is active and creative.
ReplyDeleteI've always enjoyed the great interaction and discussions I've had with my classmates during a group project from school and realized how much fun I had in the process because of the great topics we brought to the table and how we managed to finish the assignment with great group communication and dedication. Yes, unfortunately there is always that one classmate in the group that really isn't putting any effort into the assignment or group conversation, but it's important to call those bad seeds out from the beginning to avoid any arguments or bad blood.
In college, group assignments has taught me to take the leadership position within the group because I am very serious about my grades and I can't afford to depend on someone else to determine my future within a class. Some students don't take college as serious as others and I've noticed that some students don't mind taking the backseat role. I've had group assignments where a member of the group doesn't respond to the group at all, and my grade was affected by this because the only way to earn full credit was everyone had to take a position within the group, which at the time didn't seem fair to me but now I understand. Group assignments does teach us students how to cooperate and work with others to reach a common goal which is a great thing to learn when preparing for corporate America, or any occupation. It taught me to have patience and to have the strength to carry a team, because a TEAM is only as strong as its weakest member.
ReplyDeleteI have learned quite a lot from having group assignments in college. Not only have my social skills greatly improved, but also my leadership ones. Not to mention, I have met quite an array of people from group projects. Some of these people I now call my friends. But working in groups does not solely benefit skills, it also helps create the foundation of a good employee. In the real world, employers want to hire people who display skills that corporations find useful. Good communication, leadership and teamwork are among those skills. Statistically, people are more likely to find jobs if they display the aforementioned. Group projects however are also the source of much anxiety for many college students. In most cases, this is a result of shyness or reluctance to engage in activities revolving around social interactions. In theory, group projects can help combat this fear of socializing; not sharing or participating is the worse option in real-life. Voicing one's opinion is very important. Therefore, group projects are a fantastic source of learning for a college students.
ReplyDeleteThe importance of group work was emphasized in this write up and in as much as the write was short, it highlighted the importance of teamwork and the benefit of participating in it during college studies. Going by the current trend in the workplace, it is inevitable working as a group and the earlier ones the dynamics of working as a team, the better for the person. This is because teamwork will guarantee part of one’s success as a team member while working in an organization. Learning the skills and dynamics of teamwork during college days will give one a good experience that will help during team work as an employee
ReplyDeleteGroup work! It can have its pros and its cons. The reason why i say that is because when you get put into a group of people to complete a task you don't know what type of mindset the other people have. Pros: By being in a group it allows more ideas to be shared amongst one another. A lot of things can be accomplished if there is more than one person looking into solving a problem or to share ideas. The fact that the people in the group can feed off one another to make group work as an advantage. It promotes a common direction in putting a certain task in handling special projects. No one is going to be on the same page all the time so there may be conflicts and arguments between members of the team but once you solve it them everyone can come together. By having more people search for ideas, thinking and working hard will make the process go by faster and less amount of time spent on it. Cons: People with their personalities clashing all the time no one coming up with a solution to get it done. Now you’ll have people that’s not happy and decide not to do they part makes it harder on other individuals in the group. It can lead to loss of resources. If you have everyone assigned to do something, it can be difficult to start because everyone isn’t on the same page. Then one person gets stuck doing all the work because no one wants to pull they weight. So the main person that’s is putting in the work has to world on there back. Has to share the accomplishment with a bunch of people that didn’t do anything.
ReplyDeleteI fully understand that everyday you will experience working in a group as a team rather your at work, home, or school. 98% of the time working in a group of people that is willing to put as much work into something as you are will be an advantage. Not only will you accomplish your task but you can gain a friend out of it. So I wouldn't say not to be a team sport but it wouldn't hurt to put your all into it when your in a group.