integrating theory--dialogue
15 years ago
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Group Decision Making
In almost every college course group work is a requirement. Group work forces you to associate people you might not otherwise talk to. All members of a group have different experiences and knowledge, putting that together can lead to good decision making. Randy Hirokawa and Dennis Gouran are"convinced that group interaction has a positive effect on the final decision."(Griffin p. 223). Hirokawa and Gouran understand that it is not easy to come to a decision when in a group. There are four functions of effective decision making, those are (1) problem analysis (2) goal setting (3) identification of alternatives, and (4) evaluation of positive and negative consequences. This process helps a group acheive the best goal without as much headache.
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I used to require group work in nearly all my classes; now I seldom require group work. Although the idea of group work is good, I decided that students often didn't have the skills they needed to do the work. Many students would have a bad experience in their groups and dislike group work even more by the end of the semester. In some classes I make group work optional and students seem to enjoy that. If they don't like working in groups, they can work on their own. If they like working in groups, they can do that. Everyone is happy. I realize that often people don't have a choice to work or not work in groups. But unless I'm teaching small group communication, group work generally is optional.
I have the same experience in college course group work. Four or five students came together to finish assessment that was requirement by the professor. All the students focused on how to find answers to complate the group work using their different experience and knowledge.But none of them understood the four functions and used it to make decision. I feel so lucky to learn it in chapter 17. Later, if I have group work to finish, I`ll recommend it to my group members.
Hello!
You said - "Group work forces you to associate people you might not otherwise talk to. All members of a group have different experiences and knowledge, putting that together can lead to good decision making".
I couldn't agree with that statement more. Although it is easier to choose your own group members when doing a project, it can be very beneficial to be assigned to a group that you would not have picked yourself because it simulates the real world much better. In the real world, we usually do not choose who our coworkers are - we are just thrown into that situation.
When you choose your own group, you will choose people that you know you already work with well. However, when you do not get to choose your own group, you will end up having to do more problem solving and conflict resolution at times, and this gives you experiences you need to succeed in real life.
Also, when you don't know much about the people you are working with, you will probably learn more from them then you would either working by yourself or working with other people that you know already, and new ideas area always great because you will learn something.
I personally have had several issues while working in groups. I usually have that random person who doesnt show up for classes, does not do their assignment, or if they do its very minimal. Generally professors are aware of this, and grade on an individual level to make sure everyone gets a fare grade. I have, however, had a teacher who graded only as a group, regardless who did what or how much for the group. This made it hard on not only me but the rest of the group who actually did their work. We all had to pick up other peoples slack.
I do like the benefits of doing group projects, but my personal opinion they should be mostly left out. San Jose State is a commuter school. Many people live atleast an hour away, have full time jobs, or families to take care of. This makes it extremely difficult setting times to meet. One person is always missing due to the above reasons.
I took a small group class over the summer and found working in groups very helpful and at the same time challenging. It was nice to work in a group because like you said "all members of a group have different experiences and knowledge, putting that together can lead to good decision making". There were topics and input that I found helpful because other people from the group had more experience than I did.
There was also times when there was a member of the group that was not helpful and kind of set the group back. So I guess I can say that I have mixed feelings about group work. Sometimes it works and sometimes the chemistry is not there.
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