What
I’ve Learned
· The design games helped me to learn who I was. The games made me realize my strengths and my weaknesses. By participating in the games, I broke barriers and allowed myself to open up to strangers which is necessary when you are on a job and you are put into a group project with people you've never met or even seen. You will be obligated to begin working and easily communicating with the other members in your group to accomplish a task.
· By taking the Meyers-Briggs Test, I found where I was categorize and noticed that using the results from this test to form our groups, helped significantly in the groups working as “a group.” This assisted in our completion of duties and our ability to work sufficiently and thoroughly to get a problem fixed.
· Presentation is an important part of selling your product. I thought it was kind of funny at first; however, it seemed as though the more intricate the project became the harder it was to do an effective presentation. By watching myself giving my presentation to the class on videotape, I was able to fix my presentation appearance in the hopes of someday reaching perfection. Having a good presentation stature allows you to communicate to your audience effectively, which is necessary in any situation in which you are trying to promote an idea.
· With the group projects, I learned that there is a split between those who plan out things and those who wish to learn by trial and error. I’m the latter.
In activity 1, I observed that the people in my group wanted to plan out things. They wanted to know the exact details and instructions for building our design, while I just wanted to build the structure and learn through my mistakes. In working in a group, I have noticed that there is always a person who takes the role of the leader and assigns jobs to the others. With the group from Activity 1, I felt we all got along and worked very well together which was very unusual for me in comparison with group work from my past. We listened to eachother and built off of eachother’s ideas, never disregarding a member’s suggestion.
In activity 2, I learned that it is important that you work closely together with the others in your group to accomplish the goal set before you. The cube required great attention to detail. If you and your partner didn't work as a team the cube was impossible to complete. I also learned that it is important to be a good listener and to not be careless in your work.
In activity 3, the egg drop taught me to work efficiently and thoroughly with the materials provided and within the amount of time allocated. I learned that when each person has a specific job in which they are to perform in order to help out the group as a whole, the goal is quickly accomplished and reached. With this group activity, we each accomplished our task and brought our work together to attain a finished product.
In activity 4 and 5, I learned to work more efficiently in a group. These two activities required that everyone be good listeners, as well as be accepting to others input. I found that sometimes there were those who wanted their ideas as the final answer to everything.
In activity 6, I continued to learn how to work in and as a group to
accomplish a task. This activity requires that a group work in following
and deciphering instructions of another group which requires patience and an
enormous group effort.
· With project 1 being focused on the individual rather than the group, I learned that working towards and focusing on a goal is important as you work through a task. Working in groups was what made project 2 different.
Being the extrovert, for project
2, I was given first choice on my group members, who of course were
introverts. When we had our class
meeting, I noticed that we automatically took on our roles, effectively
communicating to eachother without arguing.
This allowed us to set our goals and get things done promptly.
Each of us took on a different role: secretary, president, and
director. This was actually a good thing because it got decisions made
and an agenda completed. With
this group, I found that I’m the type of person who repeatedly asks to have
the facts set straight and outlined before me. This is to assure that
all information being communicated is correct and that there is no ambiguity
in what is expected.
Meeting of the minds is what my group worked towards for project 3. Each tester helped us to perfect our prototype so that we could achieve the greatest final product. I learned that it is a necessity that every group be diverse and balanced in the type of people that create the group. I found that it was necessary to have that one group member that always bluntly stated what was what otherwise I noticed that the other group members would just sit there with all their ideas yet never get anywhere. With this group, I felt I was always taking the initiative. Working in this group proved to be a challenge. My group never seemed to be able to show up in one place at a specified time. When trying to resolve problems, I found the group to be worse because instead of being activists they were pacifists. I learned that even when the others in your group may not be working towards the goal, it is still your responsibility to make sure the task required of your group gets completed.
· With the two exercises, Role Mole and Garfield, which relied on individual participation, I learned that even with it being an individual project I still had "help" from the "group". While I worked individually on these projects, I still received feedback and comments from people. It was my job then to either receive the criticism with an open mind and use the information given to me to increase the standard of my project OR not, and lose the chance of possibly making my product the best it can attain.
Shalyn Davis sldavis@andrew.cmu.edu