Week 16, Question 3

One of my favorite concepts that we went over this past semester was active listening. Listening seems like one of the easiest things we do, but after I learned more about this concept I realized that there have been numerous times in my life where I have not been an active listener. Active listening is more than just sitting and listening to someone talk. When you are an active listener you are actually listening to what the speaker has to has and you are letting them know you are paying attention verbally and nonverbally. Anyone can sit in front of a speaker and look like they are listening when they are really off in their own little world. It takes a lot more effort it show someone that you are really listening to what they have to say. I know I have a hard time actively listening when I am in a class and I'm stressed and have a lot of other things going on in my life. That is when my mind tends to wander and I don't listen like I should be. When I catch myself listening I have to refocus and pay attention to what is going on.

Week 16, Question 2

I have learned many valuable things throughout this semester that I will use for the rest of my life. Small group communication is something that I know I am going to be involved in in my professional life and my personal life and I have learned many skills to improve the skills I had before I took this class. My favorite thing about this class was the blog we had to keep. I thought it was an interesting way for the class to interact. We could have easily done our discussions on desire2learn like the majority of the other online classes, but the blog was a creative way to conduct the class. Although I really liked the blog, my least favorite part about the class was the time restrictions. I know the time restrictions were set to keep us on top of our work, but sometimes it was hard to make sure I got it done because I would get really with other schoolwork. That is the only thing that I disliked. I really don’t have any suggestions to improve the class because I thought it was run very well and I really enjoyed it.

Week 16, Question 1

I really liked the group observation project. I thought it was a really good way for us to actually get a chance to apply what we learned to a real life situation. Especially since this is an online class and we didn’t get the chance to interact with our classmates face to face. I thought that the exercise was very useful to me personally. I was able to look at my small group from a completely different perspective. I have observed this group before, but this time it was different. I picked up on things that I hadn’t before. I feel that I picked up on more detail than I would have if I didn’t learn the various course concepts. One thing that I thought was very good about this project was that it got us out there and had us practice our skills before we get out there in “the real world” I don’t have any suggestions for improvement for this project. I thought it was good just the way it was.

Week 14, Question 3

The one concept that I choose to discuss this week is reward-punishment power. I thought this concept was very interesting. Reward-punishment power is held by an individual who can effectively reward or punish other members of the group. Essentially we all hold this reward-punishment power if we can effectively praise or humiliate your fellow group members. We don't always think of it this way though. We usually think of it as "the ability to materially affect another's well-being in terms of financial rewards or punishments that we consider particularly meaningful." (Harris & Sherblom) We all have experiences with people like this and in some cases it can be ourselves. You may experience it at work with your boss or at home with your parents. Many people try to avoid disagreeing with the person who holds the reward-punishment power in fear of being punished. Unfortunately when group participation is based on regard for reward and punishment power, effective group process may be sacrificed.

Week 14, Question 2

Looking back on the past group work I have done during my time at San Jose State There are many examples I could think of where I have experienced a collaborative conflict. Collaborative conflict is a style that seeks to maximize the gain for all participants. Collaborative conflicts value the relationship between group members and the task. I have had many group experiences where we all worked together to get along and complete the task in a timely manner and do a good job. Competition conflict is the style dedicated to winning. This style can become destructive to a group because it can mean winning at any cost. Competition conflict is low on the relationship and high on the task. I have never personally been involved in competition conflict. I have been very lucky and I've gotten good group members who participate and do their work. Yes there have been some problems, but none where the relationship between me and my group members was compromised. Since I have never been involved in a competition conflict I would have to say that a collaborative conflict resolution is more satisfying to me. It is better for everyone in the long run because it doesn't compromise relationships and it gets your tasks done.

week 14, Question 1

A forum panel, colloquium, and symposium are all composed of some of the same elements, but the way they are performed and delivered is different. For example in a forum the audience gets very involved with the speakers. It's more of a public discussion. A group delivers a speech on a topic or problem and the audience then participates by commenting. The audience members can say if they agreed or disagreed with what was said or they can even offer suggestions or argue the main point. The forum format is often seen in town meetings and public hearings. A panel is different than a forum. In a panel a small group of four to eight experts discuss a problem or decision in front of an audience. There is a moderator who starts the meeting by explaining the format to the audience, introduces the speakers, keeps time and sometimes summarizes the speakers points. The panel never have direct with the audience. In a colloquium the form is a public discussion in which a group of three to six experts, that are usually chosen for their divergent views, discuss a problem in front of an audience with a mediator facilitating their interaction. The purpose of a colloquium is to identify, develop, and work through possible solutions to a problem for the benefit and with the participation of the audience. A symposium is made up of two to six brief speeches made on different aspects of a difficult problem. The speakers are usually experts in different areas related to the problem. The speeches are well prepared and uninterrupted by the audience. If I were to chose one form of discussion I would chose forum because I think that hearing different viewpoints from the audience is more helpful than speaking and not hearing what people really thought of what you said. Some of the comments might be hard to hear, but it will be more helpful than not hearing it at all.

Week 13, Question 3

The concept from chapter 10 that I thought was interesting was emotional barriers to creativity. When you think about being creative you wouldn't think that there would be any emotional strain, but for a lot of people there is. "There are risks and hard work associated with 'going out on a limb' and trying something new. We may have to take more time than we would like, we may make a mistake, and we may risk the censure of our peers by looking foolish or being judged incompetent." (Harris & Sherblom) So many people are worried about what other people think of them. They don't want to be judged and looked at as an outsider. Our society rewards being right and judges people who are "wrong" in their eyes. This often keeps people from expressing their ideas and what they really believe in. Many of the most significant people in the history of our country and inventions have been initially rejected for being too "out there", but that didn't keep them from making a mark on our history. If they had let the emotional strain on what other people think then we wouldn't be where we are today.