A large part of Geneseo’s curriculum is based of the Geneseo Globe (Geneseo Learning Outcomes for Baccalaureate Education). This is a list of what Geneseo hopes their students get out of their classes. A few weeks ago, in Dr. McCoy’s class, she gave us an activity that was closely related to the GLOBE.
After being separated into groups, she asked us to write a paragraph together, explaining the problems and solutions in Ian Chipman’s article, The Power of Realistic Expectations. Out of all the group projects I have done, none have been similar to this activity. Usually, in group projects, the work can be divided and each person is typically working on their own part, but it is essentially impossible to divide work up when you are working on a single paragraph.
This activity related directly to points two and four on the Geneseo GLOBE- Communication, and Leadership and Collaboration. Both of these deal with group work, being able to communicate ideas effectively and engage in conversation with others. But six people working on one short paragraph can be a challenge since everyone has their own opinions. When Dr. McCoy asked us what writing in a group felt like my classmate Anderson portrayed it very well by stating, “there were too many cooks in the kitchen.”
While a group project like this can be challenging, I can easily say that it is very rewarding. This first project was an initiation for the group work we would be doing for the following weeks, a much more detailed project. Without this first project, I feel as our groups would still be lost, with less of an idea of how to collaborate effectively and communicate.
So while, “too many cooks in the kitchen,” is an accurate description of the initial struggle groups had, without this we would not have had the ability to step up and overcome the problem. And I personally feel like this is what the Geneseo GLOBE is hoping for- a little bit of struggle to encourage us to push through toward our success as Geneseo students.