Groupwork

After school today I got together with my science group to work on our project. we have to assess the merits of a specific resource as a learning tool. We scored a Finding Nemo intereactive DVD.

Its really interesting working with people with different educational experiences and backgrounds. I always thought there was a magic formula to writing essays and doing assessments, and knew that I didn't know what it was and that other people somehow did. From about year ten or eleven I started to slip and never understood why sometimes I did well and other times I didn't.

For the first time ever, I am being given rubrics for assessment tasks, that label clearly what is required. This has completely demystified the learning process for me, and makes so much more sense too - surely if you're trying to teach people something, its helpful to tell them precisely what their learning objectives and outcomes should be. I went through high school and Uni getting grades that varied from As to Cs and I never knew why.

Working with the guys in my science group we each have different skills. I have higher literacy skills but have always had a tendency to skimp on details and explanations, cause surely that stuffs bloody obvious isn't is? If I've said something insightful, isn't the insight enough? Why do I have to turn my thinking into an American sitcom where every joke gets explained three times for the dummies. Yeah I'm an intellectual snob, and proud of it, and you know who I'm taking to. lol. ;-)

However, lets call her Abigail, in my science group, comes from a science background and has a completely, diametrically opposed learning style to me. For every "advantage" of the science resource we cite, she wants to include three examples from the resource to prove the point and I've learnt, from an educational viewpoint, how important it is to dot the Is and cross the Ts. Watching and comparing how we approached the task was like someone hitting me over the head with a baseball bat and letting the sun pour into my brain.

Group work can be tedious as hell at times, and even more frustrating for a self confessed control freak, but its good to learn stuff too!