Reflections Laura Taylor

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EDID6505 - Systems Approach to Designing Instructional Materials

Trimester 2 2013-2014

Final Project

State on What Worked (Group Work and their Outcomes)
Group work is known for its benefits but also for the challenges associated with it. Initially, I
had opted to do an individual project, as I tend to prefer to work alone and lend my
assistance, from a distance, to my peers as we work towards the completion of assignments.
After meeting with my team, I decided to continue working as a group to complete the final
assignment. Team Wenger had developed good synergy throughout the term as we shared
and learned from each others input and we hoped to continue along this thread, mainly to
support each other and to assist with enhancing and refining our knowledge.

Throughout the project, we were able to support and calm each others fears and frustrations,
as we were all on uncertain ground about our abilities and whether we understood the
lessons. The honest and critical input from my peers as well as the Skype discussions proved
helpful in connecting with each other, sharing our likes/dislikes and ultimately motivating
each other to persevere.

To this end, we created a type of positive learning environment where we spoke the same
language, had the same expectations and required the same amount of effort to successfully
and efficiently complete our tasks/assignment. Most importantly, we learned from our
mistakes and from each other. Brainstorming was also fruitful in the team environment as we
shared our ideas, gathered a variety of perspectives, suggestions and approaches to our
project.

What would you or would not do differently?
The difficulty with my group, as with any group, was the tedious nature and time-consuming
efforts of group meetings. This is said in spite of the fact that meetings with the Team were
highly productive. It is easy working alone as you can set your own timelines and deadlines,
but with groups, tasks seemingly take longer than usual. I believe that the efficiency of group
meetings can be improved when each group member adequately prepares and submits his/her
contribution the day before the meeting and the other group members read and respond to the
posting/s before the actual meeting. This would take care of some of the little changes that
consume the meeting time causing it to drag on. It also allows the meeting time to be
restricted to discussions around challenges, issues, planning and decision-making. Setting an
agenda and a timetable for the meeting assisted greatly with making meetings productive. As
Team Wenger put these measures in place, the efficiency and pace for the meeting improved
each time we met yet still, we were able to support and nurture each other as the time wore
on.

I would recommend that groups set an agenda for each meeting, a timeframe for your
meeting, and assign roles to each member. Care must be taken to strike a good balance in this
endeavour by developing a good group synergy and remaining open-minded and flexible in
your ideas, suggestions and guidelines.

State how working as a group helped or did not help your process
Group work provided a valuable support among the members. Where one member was weak
in a particular area, she contributed in the areas in which she was stronger and more
confident. However, in spite of each member focussing on their stronger areas, each member
was still able to learn and develop her knowledge in the weaker areas to such an extent that
Reflections Laura Taylor

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she was able to contribute meaningfully and critically to those previously weak areas.
Without the support of my group, this process would have been more arduous and frustrating,
to complete alone. As I worked through the iterative processes, I was able to build up those
areas that were challenging and refine my knowledge and skills in other areas.