Our class was asked to come up with a solution to remedy our test grades - with the conditions that it is reasonable, and that everyone must agree on it. The final outcome was successful: we came out with a deal that probably no other class could imagine or bargain for. Yet, the process was hectic. We left the class seeing its true colors when faced with opportunity.
When the discussions first started, I took the accommodation stance. I knew that everyone had different ideas. If I had contributed mine, it would just be another factor the group had to adjust to; it would slow down the decision making process. As long as the ideas were benefiting, there is no need to step in.
There were a few people who got up to the front to take the Compromise stance, trying to really get as much out as possible. Those who made this sacrifice should be thanked. There was also around two-thirds of the class who took the Avoidance stance – they had their opinions but were probably turned off by the chaos.
Had I known the outcomes, I would have set the limit to two conditions. As we all observed, the level of chaos exponentially rises as time goes by. We agreed to the curve quickly. The option to drop a curve took twice the time. Agreeing on the essay option confused some, and almost caused us to go over the time limit. Had we stopped at the ‘drop exam’ option, we could have avoided unnecessary stress.
Either way, I can’t help but to imagine that this situation had the same atmosphere that existed during Constitutional Convention. Each delegate is fighting for their own state, like each of us wanting the best for our scores. To reach a consensus is certainly a challenge!
Lol hahaha I was describing the process as being related to a direct democracy instead of a representative democracy, just like you were saying. it was crazy, but cool. You have to expect it to be a little chaotic in the midst of all that was going on. The fact that there were no fights that broke out, was a plus from my perspective lol I agree that the more we kept going on, the closer we were to having the whole thing unravel before our eyes. All in all like you said, it was an amazing deal.
ReplyDeleteTrue, there was a time constraint and people were too busy arguing about the drop exam option, which ended up being 'optional' and we lost all the time to try to develop the next exam to help benefit us. I thought the curve was an agreeable decision that didn't cause an outbreak because it just seemed worth it. But the steps that the leaders took was too time consuming and didn't fully get a resolution to what we wanted/needed. I was one of the people who took the compromise stance, not because i wanted to get out, but the fact that all the "compete to win" people were arguing so much, where no voices or opinions were heard, it was useless for me to stand up and say something.
ReplyDeleteHAHA I really like your comparison of our class experiment to the Constitutional Convention. You said that you think we could have avoided unnecessary stress if we stopped at the 'drop worst midterm' decision...imagine if this was the attitude of the Constitutional Convention. I am really happy that we were able to come up with the extra credit essay as it just showed that our class is very capable when it comes coming to a big group decision. I always believed that, when given an opportunity, take advantage of it.
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