When Size Matters

It’s one thing to work on a group project with a few individuals and a completely different story when the group consists of five other students who lead just as busy, but completely different, lives as you do. Between a full time job, a full set of classes and a boyfriend whom I have to travel over an hour by boat to see, and everyone else’s jobs, classes and personal lives, it becomes near impossible to schedule a moment where everyone can be in the same place at the same time.
My most challenging experience in group work to date involved a project in which five individuals and I had to write a 25 page research paper and present it at the end of the quarter. The mere act of scheduling group meetings seemed to take just as long as the time actually spent working on the assignment. But what is even more challenging than getting six over scheduled students in the same room outside of class, is getting six opinionated students to write a comprehensive research paper.

The most valuable lesson I learned through that experience is the importance of limiting the size of the group (four being the optimal number) and the importance of discussing schedules before you group with the person who happened to sit next to you on the first day of class.

-EG