The thought of team projects usually has my head spinning. By the end of the project I’m usually questioning why I ever went back to school. But that was not the case for the team project in Media Research and Writing. The project in this class was interesting informative and best of all – completed with a couple of great partners.
In the past I’ve been paired with partners who wait until the last minute or flat out don’t do their share of the work. I end up doing the majority of the project. I’ve also been paired with partners who are unwilling to compromise or bend – even when they are wrong. This has made for very frustrating and tense weeks of class work. In the end I wished each person in the group could be graded based on their effort. But that is not usually the case.
The partner issue coupled with lengthy and sometimes unappealing projects often left me questioning my return to college and whether I could continue.
Much to my surprise the team project of creating a newsletter for Media Research and Writing was a lot different. To start with I managed to team up with two ladies who were as eager to succeed as I am. They never procrastinated, they participated in team meetings, they contributed great ideas, and they were willing to compromise or at least consider my point of view.
The success of our teamwork was aided by the requirements of the project assignment. Assignment creators established that all partners contribute the same number of stories or articles to the newsletter. Our team then worked together to come up with project specifics like layout, newsletter name and so forth.
For once all of my hair stayed in my head – I didn’t have to pull it out from frustration – my head isn’t spinning and we were able to complete the assignment in a timely fashion. Most importantly, I developed a lasting relationship with partners and have plans to partner with them again in future classes. It’s easy to see why this experience could be chalked up to a great and successful venture – depending on my grade of course.
In the past I’ve been paired with partners who wait until the last minute or flat out don’t do their share of the work. I end up doing the majority of the project. I’ve also been paired with partners who are unwilling to compromise or bend – even when they are wrong. This has made for very frustrating and tense weeks of class work. In the end I wished each person in the group could be graded based on their effort. But that is not usually the case.
The partner issue coupled with lengthy and sometimes unappealing projects often left me questioning my return to college and whether I could continue.
Much to my surprise the team project of creating a newsletter for Media Research and Writing was a lot different. To start with I managed to team up with two ladies who were as eager to succeed as I am. They never procrastinated, they participated in team meetings, they contributed great ideas, and they were willing to compromise or at least consider my point of view.
The success of our teamwork was aided by the requirements of the project assignment. Assignment creators established that all partners contribute the same number of stories or articles to the newsletter. Our team then worked together to come up with project specifics like layout, newsletter name and so forth.
For once all of my hair stayed in my head – I didn’t have to pull it out from frustration – my head isn’t spinning and we were able to complete the assignment in a timely fashion. Most importantly, I developed a lasting relationship with partners and have plans to partner with them again in future classes. It’s easy to see why this experience could be chalked up to a great and successful venture – depending on my grade of course.
Michele, i can not believe you also wrote about this! You will have to read my post:
ReplyDeletehttp://lindseyscheltema.blogspot.com/2010/11/importance-of-roup-assignments-and-team.html
I wrote about the same concept because i usually have my head spinning around in circles when i see "group assignments". I am always the one that wants things done on time, i am not a procrastinator, and hate it when we get paired up because i, like you, always get stuck doing the work!
I am so happy our group worked out so well and we both completed the project with a good taste in our mouth! I hope you and I are in the same class in February because i really enjoyed working with you!
Communication is so important, even when we would just meet up for 5 or 10 minutes, just talking about the assignment and getting ideas out on the table bring up more ideas or questions. Also motivation plays a huge factor in group assignments.
I am really happy you kept all of your hair after this project and i look forward to working with you again soon!