Recently, a group of five cohort students, me included, were asked to work collaboratively to write a two page paper. We were given a small amount of time and sent out to get it done. I worked with a group that clearly was all ready to contribute. The time constraint forced us to maybe skip steps that we would normally have taken (dividing duties, creating smaller groups within group, brainstorm session, etc.), instead, we jumped directly into writing. Two of us began typing the paper, one researched, one listened. I observed. Admittedly, I didn’t contribute much to the paper. I mostly helped with editing or shared thoughts. Instead, I took notes on the process. I began to think about how we were working as a team. Was the workload divided fairly? Was everyone playing a part while working to their strength? Was our team put together effectively? Were five too many people? This became the most important part of the exercise, in my opinion. As we look toward our capstone, creating a team that is well balanced will be imperative to a successful third year. I look forward to continuing to refine this process.
I would love to hear more about your experience with this. I did a brief workshop on collaborative writing this summer and gave my participants a similar assignment. It was interesting to see how they made decisions and worked together to create something that was truly collaborative rather than “group produced.”
Good morning.
I would be happy to speak further about my collaborative writing experience. I think my group made an effort to work together. Knowing that we were experimenting, I made the decision to step back and take notes on the process. I let my group know what I was doing, figuring this would be what we were most likely going to share with the class. As far as the actual writing goes, my contribution was minimal. This would obviously not be the case were we doing an actual project. Let me know what other questions you have.
Brian.