Final Discussion 3

3). Pick a favorite concept that we have covered through this course and post about it.  Explain the concept to refresh our memories.  Tell the class why you have chosen this concept, and what it is you like about it.

I really found the concept of diversity in groups to be very important. Diversity in groups was my favorite concept, because it is a powerful aspect. A diverse group can bring many different angles and approaches to opinions or objectives. I come from a fraternity, and I am the President, so I have to make many different decisions that are critical to the group. The diversity within the group helps me make my decisions, which in the end, has helped our fraternity rise to the top this semester. Now I am the president of the Inter-Fraternity Council, IFC. I am taking the aspect of diversity that I have learned from my fraternity, Sigma Nu, and from the lessons in this class, to the IFC. With the IFC, a new group comprised of fraternity members from different chapters, diversity will be a huge impact in the decision making process. Now that I know the power of diversity, and can understand the aspects of it applied, I feel that I can effectively lead IFC.

Final Discussion 2

2). What have you learned throughout this class?  What was your favorite thing about the class?  What was your least favorite thing about the class?  How can this class be improved? 

I have learned that time management is critical for this class. Being able to manage the discussions and comments is pretty important. 18 points a week adds up! The 12 hour difference between each post was difficult to work with at first. In the end, I just prepared my posts and saved them to post roughly 12 hours apart. I really enjoyed the two papers we had; I feel that is my area to excel. I did not like the D2L quizzes very much. I found the wording difficult to understand and always found myself getting lower than average grades. Hopefully with the discussions, papers, and extra credit SOTE, I still receive an A. I feel that the class can be improved by having more group oriented projects, where the classmates get to meet and work together on something, applying the small group communication aspects to the project. I feel that doing just the discussions is not enough.

Final Discussion 1

1). Discuss your Group Observation Project.  Was it a useful exercise?  What did you learn?  What was

 good about the project?  What can be improved?

My group observation project was on the PRSSA, which is a PR Club here on SJSU. I thoroughly enjoyed the project, being able to watch a different group work and interact with one another. Because of this, I was able to learn different ways to manage and control groups, the effects of communication, and how a group can thrive or not thrive depending on how groups handle leadership and communication. I found this group a very useful exercise, because of it, I was able to take back aspects learned and apply it to groups that I am a part of now. I think it is good that we attend meetings and observe the group. Reading the chapters right before actually doing the project was very helpful. I don’t think there is much that can be approved with the project itself. I enjoyed the class, and the project itself. The paper was rather lengthy, but after gathering enough information I was able complete the project.