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Oleo de José Tola
From: Carla
Date: 5/6/99
Time: 8:19:57 PM
Remote Name: 207.172.89.92
Hello everyone!
I'm delighted to hear that so many people enjoyed this class as much as I did! Hope to see everyone in future classes!
I chose to work by myself for the mid-term because I haven't had great experiences working with others in previous projects. Group work can be very unbalanced, especially if you're working with people less motivated than you are. When I hand in a project with my name on it, it is always done to the best of my ability. However, some people just don't have that kind of motivation…any "chicken scratch" on a piece of paper will do! Therefore, I always end up spending hours putting group work together, trying to perfect the final project. Another reason for choosing to work solo is that I keep very unusual working hours. When I start something, I go straight through the end, which most of the time means skipping a night's sleep. Most people tend not to do so…I am a lonely procrastinator, but this is what works for me!
However, reflecting on my past experiences, I have learned most of what I know today from others! I think, like Vygotsky (I'm so happy to have done my midterm on his work!) that we are products not only of biology but also of our surroundings (interactionist theory of SLA). In other words, we develop what we're born with the help of others…Even presently, when I learn something new, I always use other people's mental processes to guide me through what I'm doing. Just today, for example, my co-worker showed me how to convert a "mime" compressed file to an excel file on the computer. As I tried to do it later on by myself, I automatically returned and adapted his mental process into my own "cognitive framework" and followed the steps he had taken while showing me how to convert the file.
On one hand, when you're working by yourself, you tend to follow your own train of thought, learning only the subject matter that's available to you, in front of you, doing things the way you think they're right…from one perspective only…yours! On the other hand, when you're doing group work, there's the element of socializing with others (which I think is EXTREMELY important in development) and with that comes the chance of learning not only the subject matter, but other things too, like other people's ways of doing things…how they arrive at the same result as you, but following different steps…overall, group work, if balanced correctly (not like my previous experiences) can be beneficial to all members…
Once again, it was a pleasure working with all of you…good luck everyone!