When I saw my test grade, I was horrified, and was hoping that there would be a curve. Luckily, the class ended up getting that, and then some, but getting there was quite an interesting process. Professor Kurpis asked us to come up with a solution that the whole class had to agree with, or else we would get nothing at all. I personally was using the Collaborating approach to handle the decision making because not everyone in the class will want the same things, so there would need to a give and take regarding what options would be acceptable to everyone. I saw all the other four methods being used in class. The people in the front were or less using both the compromise and accommodation methods and were acting as mediators, as well as organizing the ideas that popped up and integrating them into our package of demands. Amongst the class, some also used the avoidance method since it seemed really hard to try to reach a consensus. I would have to say that the most enjoyable approach for witnesses of this decision making process would be the students using the "compete to win" approach. There were various individuals that knew what they wanted and weren't afraid to speak up and tried to get everyone to see it their way. An example would be taking out the essay question, which did end up happening, and the test's essay is now just extra credit. I didn't really want this, since it would mean more of the other types of questions that are not as open ended, and would possibly make the test more tedious.
Having gone through this experience, the other way I could have used to handle this conflict would have been accommodation. I realized that the essay was hard for the students who aren't native english speakers, so I can see why they wanted to get rid of it. There were also others who didn't want the essay for various reasons, and I guess if there were a lot of people that wanted to make the essay not as important, I should be accommodating. This would have been better because the time taken to reach the decision would probably be less than the collaborating approach. Overall, I was happy that we got it done as a class when it counted.
The "compete-to-win" approach that so many had taken was indeed pretty amusing, to us and Professor K as well, though I was getting more and more worried as time went by and we had yet come to any kind of agreement. You're right about the accomadating-approach; it surely would've been an easier way of getting anywhere but i'm not sure everybody would've been as happy as this decision-making process should've made them feel. It was also pretty amazing that after all of the disagreeing, our final decision was to keep the exam's format exactly the same but just tweek the essay portion but it was a good thing we got somewhere, at least. I was also kind of one of those people who sat back and avoided saying anything at first but now wish I would've collaborated more from the get-go. All in all, definitely a wild learning experience! :)
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting in the debrief when we went over all the ways people handle stress. Interesting because I too saw how people fit in to each category, me included. I wonder if it helped to make the decision that without some people avoiding and some people competing would a decision ever really be made.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there were a few outspoken individuals who wanted it done their way to benefit them the most. It was quite amusing to watch but overall as a class i think we did a pretty good job with trying to make a great decision for the greater good of the class.
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