TechJournal (TJ) 3: Collaborative Learning
Most of academic work is done independently. You have to read on your own, study on your own, and take your own tests. You might do a group project once in awhile, but even then you probably are only working with a couple other students. And lots of times even group projects just mean that everyone in the group does their own individual assignment.
Our class project, the IUP Student Guide, is meant to be a little different. The project is designed to be an exercise in collaborative learning. First, it is set up to have every class member working on the same project. That means the whole project will only be as good as the sum of its parts.
Another difference is that each task requires multiple skills: technical skills, creative skills, writing skills, organizational skills, design skills, and business skills. Obviously some people have more developed skills in one area than another. To be successful, you have to find a way to make use of everyone’s skills. (I’ll be teaching you more of the individual skills later: for instance, I’ll be showing everyone how to create and load up their own personal web page. But for the time being, I want you to just make use of the skills you personally have to offer the team.)
Finally, this project requires you to role play: to act as if you were an employee in a fictional .com company. Role playing is another way to learn which you may or may not have much experience with. Again, what I’m hoping is that you will give this learning technique a chance and see what you get out of it.
Since so many of these collaborative learning techniques may be new for you, I’d like to hear what think about them. So please answer the questions below. Send your answers in an email message to Dr. Pagnucci.
To: pagnucci@iup.edu
From: your email address
Cc: your email address (always keep a copy of all your course emails!)
Subject: 322 TJ3 Collaborative Learning
Body of the Message:
Your Full Name (include your full name at the top of EVERY EMAIL so I can give you credit for your work)
(Copy the questions below into your email message. Type your answers after each question. Then send your completed eJournal to Dr. Pagnucci. Write answers that are as complete as possible. Note also that grammar and spelling will not be counted for eJournals, so just do your best.)
- How does our class project compare with other collaborative projects you’ve done? How is it similar and how is it different?
- Have you done any role playing before? If so, what? What are your impressions of this technique? How do you respond to it?
- Do you prefer to work alone or with others? Why?
- What’s been your biggest contribution to the project so far? How have you helped your department?
- Rate your creative skills on a scale of 1 (worst)-10 (best). Explain your rating.
- Rate your teamwork skills on a scale of 1 (worst)-10 (best). Explain your rating.
- How do you feel about having to rely on other people for help in doing this project? What skills would you like to improve on?
- If this project is successful, everyone will get a good grade. If some people mess up, everyone’s grade will be hurt by that. What do you think about this? Does this help or hurt your chances to get a good grade? Why?
- Some people work in a very serious way. Others are pretty quiet. Others like to joke around. Most companies contain all these types of people. How do you work with people who are radically different from you? What are your ideas and suggestions for working well as part of a big team?