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In my experience, group projects tend to follow a similar pattern when it comes to the social dynamics between members of the group. In one of my computer science classes a few semesters ago, we were assigned a semester long group project, where the people we picked for our group would be integral for our success on the project. I was able to form a group with my friend and a few others sitting by, and we decided we were going to build a Pokemon themed game in Java. After introductions, our group went on to meet a few times that week in order to plan. I noticed we all seemed to have different opinions on how to layout the design, as well as who would work on what. This led to some conflict, which was later resolved by getting to work and communicating often. About halfway through the semester, we were making good progress, and each member seemed to know what they were doing. We didn't really start producing until near the due date, when the team went into maximum overdrive and finished off the game strong. This slow ramp up in how our group interacted and progressed, in my opinion, correlates with Tuckman's five stages of group development. I've had similar projects for other classes where we never got to a very productive state, and so I believe sometimes you just need luck when it comes to forming a solid group.
Hey Alex!
ReplyDeleteI feel like every single group experience I have had has been horrible. Nobody ever agrees and there's always just one or two members of the group doing the work. It seems like your experiences with group work have been different though. It's so interesting to me how groups are formed and managed because I feel like there's always that one perfect group that everyone is jealous of. I definitely agree with you in that you need a lot of luck when picking a group because if you choose the wrong people, you're pretty much screwed. I really enjoyed reading your blog, good job!
I feel as if my teams I have worked with have followed these steps, just in a weird round about way. We didn't tend to have lots of conflicts, thought maybe we just kept them to ourselves. Our performing part of the group was pretty well, but was always "last minute" kind of like how your group was with finishing. It's great hearing that other groups are similar in a way. I always feel like other groups are a lot more productive, but it seems like they all have their ups and downs.
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