To comment on the “Blind Square” activity, I would have to say that I felt it was very unproductive. I mean we completed our task as a group however I believe that it was simply because people were cheating and just did whatever just to get the task completed. I can honestly say that I did very little work in this assignment because I had done it before. In the beginning everyone who had already done the “Blind Square” project were told they couldn’t talk I felt that this instantly put myself and others into a nonparticipating mood. Personally the task seemed less important because I initially had so low involvement.The ability to talk and contribute came too late and at that point I was in the sun and just wanted to have the assignment completed. I can imagine that it must have been frustrating with the new group that had never done it before. With half of the square barely participating it must have been frustration to get anything done and have people actually follow along. I think that this experiment would have worked better if everyone was allowed to talk regardless of if they had done it or not. Knowing how to do something is one thing but having people follow your instructions and leadership it another. You may know the solution but if you are unable to properly convey or explain it to the group it’s going to have little effect on the task at hand.I think the assignment should have been done in a cool spot. The temperature really killed the motivation for me and the others that were around me. I’m honestly not really proud of myself on this one because I didn’t really rise to any leadership role. I think when a task has very little importance then it’s hard to stay motivated. If we were told that if we complete the assignment in 5 minutes we would get a homework assignment dropped but if we failed we would have to have an extra assignment that would have been a great motivating tool.
I agree that not allowing the experienced people to talk really shaped the activity process. As one of the individuals that did the activity before, I felt very helpless and limited. By the time that we were allowed to speak, many people had given up on the activity. The class really needed a leader to give clear directions and to motivate people to participate. I also agree that some type of incentive would have motivated people to participate more.
I agree with your assessment on the part about how not allowing those of us who had done this before to talk was detrimental to the whole involvement and participation process.
"Knowing how to do something is one thing but having people follow your instructions and leadership it another." I think this was key to the activity. Definitely there is a big difference between knowing about something and conveying that knowledge to others. When everyone in the group are on equal footing and without a hierarchical structure, it is difficult for a leader to emerge and even more difficult for him/her to get the rest of us to follow instructions.
I agree that it's hard to stay motivated when a task has very little importance. During the whole activity, I wasn't motivated at all and just did whatever to get it over with. Plus standing in the sun for long time with my eyes closed, I got tired and lost interest in the exercise. It's interesting that you brought up about incentive to do something. I think that if there was an incentive, people would be more motivated to get things done.
I agree that not letting experienced students speak at the beginning will certainly make the game worse and harder because experienced students did not have the chance to take leadership at the beginning, and so later inexperienced students did not ask for their advice.
Also not having the incentive to play the game made students put less effort.
I agree that not allowing the experienced people to talk really shaped the activity process. As one of the individuals that did the activity before, I felt very helpless and limited. By the time that we were allowed to speak, many people had given up on the activity. The class really needed a leader to give clear directions and to motivate people to participate. I also agree that some type of incentive would have motivated people to participate more.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your assessment on the part about how not allowing those of us who had done this before to talk was detrimental to the whole involvement and participation process.
ReplyDelete"Knowing how to do something is one thing but having people follow your instructions and leadership it another." I think this was key to the activity. Definitely there is a big difference between knowing about something and conveying that knowledge to others. When everyone in the group are on equal footing and without a hierarchical structure, it is difficult for a leader to emerge and even more difficult for him/her to get the rest of us to follow instructions.
I agree that it's hard to stay motivated when a task has very little importance. During the whole activity, I wasn't motivated at all and just did whatever to get it over with. Plus standing in the sun for long time with my eyes closed, I got tired and lost interest in the exercise. It's interesting that you brought up about incentive to do something. I think that if there was an incentive, people would be more motivated to get things done.
ReplyDeleteI agree that not letting experienced students speak at the beginning will certainly make the game worse and harder because experienced students did not have the chance to take leadership at the beginning, and so later inexperienced students did not ask for their advice.
ReplyDeleteAlso not having the incentive to play the game made students put less effort.