WORKING WITH OTHERS AND DEVELOPING SELF

Working With Others and Developing Self

Working With Others and Developing Self

Whilst learning and studying are personal and individual activities, the judgement and approaches taken by other students can be helpful in the learning process. Remember, you are learning to shape your own expectations of your performance. The ability to be self-critical against a professional standard is the key to success on most courses and in work situations. Other people's expectations and views, together with subsequent feedback from performance, are crucial aids to learning. Whether we like it or not, the world is rapidly advancing into a new era (Cottrell 2003). This time in human history has been called the information revolution. It is a time of expanding population and communication. Information presently doubles within 7 to 10 years; and that time is decreasing. This information explosion presents new challenges to those responsible for sharing information. To keep up, we must transfer more information to more people in less time and with advances in agricultural science and industry, information has become more technical and complex to be useful in a world community, we must share information with cultures of different languages (Nancy et al 2009). It also helps solve complex problems, and we must find methods to increase communication between people of different disciplines. To prepare people for responsible positions in a technological society, we must transfer complex information to a younger population. At the same time, older adults must learn the new techniques so that they can keep up with technological developments. Therefore, we must find new methods to share information.

Another very important skill one learns while developing self is working in teams or performing teamwork. This skill consists of a series of subskilIs beginning with the ability to select appropriate members of the study team.. High-performing students are often proficient at assembling ad hoc study teams, particularly to prep-are for AP exams or similar high-stakes tests and assignments. These students make strategic decisions about the composition of study groups, basing their choices of participants on finely honed judgments about the contributions each participant will likely make to the group. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The students are not systematically exclusionary; they are very concerned about someone's willingness to contribute (Vaughn et al 2009). Contribute' in this sense means showing up for the group meetings, being prepared, and being able to answer at least some questions or contribute to some degree to group understanding of difficult concepts or complex tasks or problems. Sophisticated study group organizers take mental notes about who is serious enough about learning to make the effort necessary for the group to be effective.

Students in effective study groups monitor the ice of time carefully. They insist that participants show up on time, that the group has an overall agenda or structure for each meeting, that the conversation remains on topic. And, often, that each member has a particular role to play within the ...