Last week I was very surprised to discover we have the ability to control our grades.
I really think it was a great experience no matter what grade you got on the exam.
Regarding the decision making process I think that in the first 5-10 minutes the class was totally in shock. Once because the grades and once again from the idea that we all have to get a decision by ourselves. Things started to move on the right direction just afterwards. The first one who took control was Ed and it really saved the class. If no one would jump to manage the thing I don’t want to think about the result.
After the process started the first weakness I observed was that people didn’t understand what is suggested. Ed did a great job trying to give everybody communicate in respectful manner to share the idea but people didn’t understand the suggestion and that wasted our time. When looking back I think we should have spent 10 minutes in groups. After that choosing from each group a leader and the class should have count on them to do the right decision.
In regard to how I acted I think it wasn’t constant. In the beginning I really didn’t have any idea beside the curve so I think it started with avoidance. After a few minutes I had the idea to drop the lowest grade. I truly thought it would serve all the class equally since a person who failed will be able to delete this grade and move on. From the other side if someone did well, he can get a double reward. After I presented my idea and I saw people didn’t think it’s a good one because they didn’t understand, I was completely in competing to win mood.
After we agreed (at least most of us) on the “happy meal combo” and moved the discussion on the next exam I’ve changed to Accommodation since after the curve and the extra credit I thought people that failed should formulate the next exam the way they will succeed the best.
When looking back I think I should contribute more in navigating the class to move to work in groups and than try to identify the students that don’t understand the ideas and explain them the ideas slowly. In other words I would like to act more collaborative.
I actually thought that dropping the lowest grade was a bad idea at first, for some reason. But then I thought about it some more and realized I was wrong. I'm glad you came up with the idea because there is really no way it can hurt us. I also agree that the discussion about how to change the next exam was kind of messy and at that point, a lot of people were using accommodation because there wasn't really anything inherently bad about the format.
ReplyDeleteHey,
ReplyDeleteI too, wasn't at a constant in my actions towards decision making. I agree with you that the lack of understanding was a major weakness in our group, and the group is as strong as it's weakest link. Due to that I believe our negotiation process was dragged out, and we threw out great ideas, as if they were trash. Dropping the lowest grade however was very clever and settling on the "combo meal" will definitely prosper us in terms of the final grade.
Great, so you were the one who thought of dropping the lowest grade. I think among the proposals dropping the lowest grade was the best, which really benefits everyone no matter what our grades were. Otherwise, the other arguments were more insisting on personal interest, rather than consider others.
ReplyDeleteCollaboration indeed! Totally agree with you on this one! If the whole class chose to collaborate from the very beginning I feel that we would achieve more in less time.
ReplyDeleteI think that experience was useful to all of us and hopefully will help in the future decision making process.
Yes we were all in shock and many of us took the avoidance attidude. I have learned that no matter what the situation is I am supposed to take a stand and say my opinion or suggestion. everyone should work together no matter what.
ReplyDeleteYes you are completley right about Ed and we owe a lot to him. A group requires a strong positive and motivated leader in order to show the group the direction towards the final goal. Without him it is very possible we wouldnt have reached a unaminous decision and we owe a lot to him!
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