Collaboration: What It Is and Why We Have to Do It.
Working in a collaborative environment simply means working with other people toward some common goal. Often times in an academic environment you will be asked to “partner up” or “get with some classmates” and be assigned something to do. Sometimes it will be short lived (one class) with a very loose decision process on who is doing what while other times it will be a very formal arrangement with contracts and assignments that last the entire semester. If there is not a grade involved it becomes a low stake environment and people generally can get through the assignments with little concerns or problems. However, once a grade is involved, collaboration becomes something very different and the focus of group members takes on a whole different light on how they function together. Hopefully when we finish this section, you will have a better idea of how to work together in a group environment.
Why do we have to do it or what’s in it for me?
Social Skills-The Art of Getting Along or Learning how to play nicely with others is not only important here at the learning institution-but it plays a role in just about everything you do outside these sheltered walls as well. You won’t always be able to text or email people, of course you will deny it but many of the same rules apply whether it’s electronic or face to face. It’s probably harder in the electronic medium because you cannot see expressions of agreement or disagreement. So let’s face the basic truths: Your personality is different than someone else…so now we have the potential for disagreement or conflict. We do not want to go to fisticuffs but rather we want to find a reasonable way to deal with disagreement. One of the way we learn these skills is through working in that group environment and avoiding conflict through respect and compromise of other opinions.
Diversity-three heads are actually better than one.
Think about it…if you are in a group of three people, does it not help with problem solving if each person contributes to finding a solution? I know some of you might disagree and want to just solve it yourself because you do not trust anyone else…buy we need to get over that fear and look at this as an “opportunity” to excel in. Diversity or Differences make for a better learning environment. Why? If each person looks at a problem differently, you will probably get more choices of a solution then if everyone looked at it the same way.
Other classes do it too.
You cannot run…and you cannot hide from working with a group. Furthermore it’s not just in English classes but all over the place pretty much and in every major. Some instructors will have you in a group ALL semester long. While other may do it very little. It all depends on the instructional methodology of the individual. But regardless you need to be prepared for some form of group interaction.
Real Life Situations-It’s called teamwork.
When you do leave the halls of academia…working in a group environment will probably be more prevalent because simply-that is how things get done. Of course there may be some exceptions, but they are rare because generally speaking you are always part of some greater organization. The “Team” concept of doing things as some form of a unit is a universal concept so the more you learn to work within the environment of a team, the easier your introduction into the real world will be. If you still are shaking your head no, then take it to another level, marriage and raising a family. Is that not teamwork? Think about it.