Learning Focus: Individual vs. Group Projects

While individual and team projects are important to learning, it is a challenge to focus on both at the same time. However, many jobs (including my own) require this as a part of everyday work. There are the projects that are small enough for you to be both owner and doer of the work, and then there are projects that require extensive input from multiple people, with separate owners, doers, editors, and more.

For the individual, smaller projects, often you are able to set your own timeline and devote as much or little time is necessary or available to complete the project within the requirements. As your own schedule changes, so may the timeline adjust to fit. For the group, larger projects, it is usually necessary to agree on a solid schedule up front, as well as "rules" and "roles" for everyone to fit into. Since the project doesn't just affect you, meeting the due dates becomes more of a priority, for the sake of the others involved (and so you don't get blamed for ruining the project).

Both small and large, individual and group projects are important in different ways, developing unique skill sets that equip workers and learners for things to come, as well as producing some result (the final product/assignment) in the process. Following are some notes on my own journey through the group and individual processes:

Group Process:
While our interactions this week have been minimal due to the focus on the individual projects, we have still managed to post thoughts and communicate on our availability, assignment, and posting requirements. Everyone has worked well together and is supportive of the final product, but at the same time also focused on their own unique article ideas.

Individual Process:
Strangely enough, I thrive on individual projects, as they allow me to explore whatever I am interested in, to whatever degree I am interested in it. They allow me to make assignments as relevant to my work as I can make them, without worrying about how it fits in with everyone else. They also enable me to do research on my own, reading articles and discovering interesting facts about all sorts of topics relevant to my own ideas. Because I love to read so much about what other's think, often I dwindle in research mode and only settle into outline and writing mode when I know time is running low to produce a good product. I can tell that the research part of my article must soon come to a close, as I will have too many ideas and not enough space (or time) to write them in. Thus, I will soon move onto consolidate my ideas and formulate them into a (hopefully) cohesive, focused product - my article.

All in all, both processes have taught me that doing schoolwork can be a lot like completing projects on the job, and oftentimes that is best because it helps me to translate/apply learnings from school into the work sphere.