Recently, we've been taught a very valuable lesson in decision making. The class was offered a great opportunity to design our second exam, and list suggestions on what to do with the results of the first exam. The only catch was that the suggestions had to be reasonable, and the the entire class had to agree on the decision. We were all able come to an agreement that the lowest exam grade would be dropped, and extra credit would be applied to our highest exam grade. The rest would be left to the professor's discretion. Although I thought our performance was satisfactory, I felt it could have been much better.
The process was nothing like I imagined it to be. I thought it would be a piece of cake, and the professor would have ended up regretting his decision to let us make the calls due to all the A's he would have had to give out. I soon came to realize that it was much harder than it seemed. Although I'm grateful for what we were able to accomplish for the first exam, leaving the second exam to the professor's discretion wasn't the best choice we could have made.
It was frustrating at times to hear students reject proposals which I thought would have benefited a lot of people, but I guess I was able to deal with it using an accommodation method. I didn't think I needed the perks as much as other students did. I figured since extra credit would be given, hopefully that would give me the boost I needed to achieve my desired grade. So I threw my suggestion for bonus questions out there, and left the rest to the class to decide.
I think if the class would have used a collaborating method of dealing with conflict, the outcome would have been much greater. Although I personally liked having someone step up and guide the entire class, now that I reflect on it, I feel the best option would have been to break into small groups. One of the problems seemed to be that it would always be one or two people who objected to something. If we were placed into small groups, we would have had the opportunity to talk it out and a chance to persuade those who disagreed. Instead, we needed absolute silence so that our suggestions could be heard by the person leading the class, which cost us to forfeit the opportunity to persuade one another.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Saving Humpty Dumpty
Recently, my group and I were assigned the task of building a contraption that would help our egg survive a 10 ft. drop. We were able to successfully implement a plan to achieve our goal. So how did we do it? Well, now that I reflect back on the event, we non-intentionally followed the steps in the planning process.
Step 1: Defining our goals and objectives.
We all knew what our objective was, and that was to plan and build a contraption using 8 straws and a piece of tape within an hour's time to ensure our egg survived a 10 ft. drop. We also had to keep in mind that the egg needed to be at least 50 percent visible.
Step 2: Determining our resources and current status vis-a-vis objectives.
Our group didn't spend much time doing background checks to see if anyone had any experience with this project. The first thing that came to mind was that we needed someone short to drop the egg. By selecting the shortest person in our group to drop it, we would be able to minimize the distance from the egg to the floor, therefore reducing the impact, so that our egg would have a better chance at surviving the fall.
However, someone in our group did have knowledge on how we should approach the task based on what they've heard from other students who were familiar with this project.
Step 3: Developing several alternative strategies.
This was one of the hardest steps for us. Our group was debating how to make use of all the straws. We couldn't decide whether we should build a nest for the egg, wrap it up in straws, or if we should drop the egg vertically or horizontally. There were too many factors to consider. We couldn't predict if the egg fall straight down, turn in the air, or whether it would roll when it landed. As we were considering all the flaws in our plans as we went through it, someone had suggested an idea they heard about from another student. They suggested connecting all the straws together with tape to form a large pole, and connecting the pole of straws to the egg with the tape. While holding our contraption, the distance from the egg to the floor would be a few feet at most.
Step 4: Make a Plan
During this stage we narrowed our choices down to building a barrier of straws around our egg, or the pole of straws for minimal distance. Our group was leaning towards the pole of straws, but we were skeptical of how long we could actually get our contraption to be. Once we were given the long piece of tape, it was decided. We assumed we would get a foot of tape or so, but once we received several feet, this put us all at ease knowing that the distance from the egg to floor couldn't be that bad.
Once we received the materials, the group got right to work. Everyone who was close to the straws went and began assembling it, while those closer to the egg and tape began working on that. It's as if everyone was a leader and decided to step up and take control.
Step 5: Implement the plan and evaluate the results.
Now it was time to put our contraption to the test. The shortest person on our team went up and slowly lowered the contraption. As she released it, I was relieved to hear the sound of our team cheering as our contraption was a success.
Ultimately, I thought our group's performance was good. It might have been more effective to choose a leader, but overall I'm satisfied with how it all turned out. We were able to prevent our egg from breaking; earning us 5 extra points towards our exam, and we didn't have to jeopardize the lives of any team members by trying to get the scissors. =)
Step 1: Defining our goals and objectives.
We all knew what our objective was, and that was to plan and build a contraption using 8 straws and a piece of tape within an hour's time to ensure our egg survived a 10 ft. drop. We also had to keep in mind that the egg needed to be at least 50 percent visible.
Step 2: Determining our resources and current status vis-a-vis objectives.
Our group didn't spend much time doing background checks to see if anyone had any experience with this project. The first thing that came to mind was that we needed someone short to drop the egg. By selecting the shortest person in our group to drop it, we would be able to minimize the distance from the egg to the floor, therefore reducing the impact, so that our egg would have a better chance at surviving the fall.
However, someone in our group did have knowledge on how we should approach the task based on what they've heard from other students who were familiar with this project.
Step 3: Developing several alternative strategies.
This was one of the hardest steps for us. Our group was debating how to make use of all the straws. We couldn't decide whether we should build a nest for the egg, wrap it up in straws, or if we should drop the egg vertically or horizontally. There were too many factors to consider. We couldn't predict if the egg fall straight down, turn in the air, or whether it would roll when it landed. As we were considering all the flaws in our plans as we went through it, someone had suggested an idea they heard about from another student. They suggested connecting all the straws together with tape to form a large pole, and connecting the pole of straws to the egg with the tape. While holding our contraption, the distance from the egg to the floor would be a few feet at most.
Step 4: Make a Plan
During this stage we narrowed our choices down to building a barrier of straws around our egg, or the pole of straws for minimal distance. Our group was leaning towards the pole of straws, but we were skeptical of how long we could actually get our contraption to be. Once we were given the long piece of tape, it was decided. We assumed we would get a foot of tape or so, but once we received several feet, this put us all at ease knowing that the distance from the egg to floor couldn't be that bad.
Once we received the materials, the group got right to work. Everyone who was close to the straws went and began assembling it, while those closer to the egg and tape began working on that. It's as if everyone was a leader and decided to step up and take control.
Step 5: Implement the plan and evaluate the results.
Now it was time to put our contraption to the test. The shortest person on our team went up and slowly lowered the contraption. As she released it, I was relieved to hear the sound of our team cheering as our contraption was a success.
Ultimately, I thought our group's performance was good. It might have been more effective to choose a leader, but overall I'm satisfied with how it all turned out. We were able to prevent our egg from breaking; earning us 5 extra points towards our exam, and we didn't have to jeopardize the lives of any team members by trying to get the scissors. =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
