Coming into the class after the test, I was very curious to see what the professors idea of the most important class would be. When he told us that we would be able to figure out what we wanted to do with our grades on the first test and decide on a format for the second test I was shocked that a professor would even entertain that idea. I thought to myself, this is every students dream. But when the professor stated we had to have 100% agreement and I looked around at the size of the class I quickly realized that this could end up being much harder that everyone thinks.
All that being said, when the assignment began I partook in the accommodation approach. Being that i was happy with my grade, I took a more hands off approach and asked the people around me what they thought we should do. I got mixed responses, usually based on how good or bad the individual did.
As I looked around the room I realized that everyone was basically doing what i was doing. That is, they were conferring with everyone in their immediate vicinity. I realized that this was very ineffective because we would never come to a 100% consensus this way. Finally, a few people began to realize this and started to grab peoples attention towards the front of the room. Once one person had everyone's attention we were able to make some progress but time and personalities were working against us. This process ultimately led us to our final decisions, although I think they could have been better.
Our final decisions could have been better if we would have elected a leader from the beginning to help mediate everyones ideas. In this way, the entire class would of had more time to come to a consensus. By wasting half of the class talking amongst our respective groups we were not able to generate the best ideas possible.
2 comments:
Most of the process was a complete waste of time. Only about 15 minutes of the class was productive. Obviously, we needed people to sit back and do less because it created more harmony. I think we just needed a way that also incorporated them in the decison making process. Having a leader from the very beginning would have led to better results.
I think your idea is right too. We should have a leader from the beginning of the discussion, so we can have more time to vote and think of some other idea. We waste a lot of time when we don't have a leader. So, I think it is important to have a strong leader in a group.
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