Peak Oil - Self Reflection

The Group Work
1. What have I contributed to the group project?
I felt that in terms of group contribution, I have contributed many various ideas. I offered my opinions on all the issues discussed and reasons to back it up. I weighed out the pros and cons of each of the options laid out our for our group project to and voiced out my concerns regarding these options so as to ensure that the best suited decision was made as a group. I also carried out the task designated to me in the project which was to edit the video script and find suitable pictures and videos to be put into our video, but as we decided not to continue on with our project I wasn’t able to actually complete my task.

2. What would I do differently next time? Why?
The next time when I do a group project, I will try my very best to procrastinate less and not do my tasks last minute. I also tend to drift off topic and get distracted easily during discussions, so I will be more focused the next time.

3. What have I learnt about working together?
I learned that while working together we have to consider everybody’s opinions while making decisions. I also learned that we could complete work faster by allocating tasks to the group members or split ourselves into smaller groups eg. pairs to better focus on the task rather than having too many people working on a task at a time as “too many cooks spoil the broth”.

4. What has been good/challenging about working as part of a group?
One of the challenging things was getting together for discussions and planning. We had our own activities so it was hard to find a time that would suit all of us. Working as part of a group would also require lots of compromising with other group members so I would not always get things the way I want. As a group of “critical eyes”, we tend to fuss over small details and this costs us a lot of time, so we would have to try and keep our discussions and planning time shorter and more to the point.

What have I learnt doing the project?
1. What have I learnt about;
a. deciding on and planning a project?
I learned that our group would have to be very organised and include everybody in the planning. We would brainstorm and get all our ideas down. Then as a group we would filter out the best ideas while still taking into consideration all the members’ interests before deciding in order to satisfy everybody. Our group would have to be very cooperative and be willing to compromise.

b. planning and producing research?
While conducting research, I learned to allocate different areas of research to each of the group members. We would place all our research together in a shared document as we go so other group members are able to view and edit it. So we could help other members out in the research if need me.

c. reading and presenting my ideas?
We shared our ideas in a shared document so I was able to present my ideas and findings to everybody in our group. I also presented my ideas during group discussions and I learned to give feedback to other ideas too.

d. time management?
I learned how to create a gantt chart to more effectively manage my time and our tasks as a group. I now know that I should spread out my work evenly across the time given for me to complete my task and not do it all last minute so I would not produce sub standard work and disappoint my group members.

2. What would you do differently to develop these skills?
I would have to be more focused and generally try not to procrastinate.

3. How did I approach my individual contribution?
I tried to contribute as much as I could and whenever possible.

4. What are the most valuable points I have learnt? Why?
Throughout the project I have managed to identify my weakness which is basically lack of focus and procrastination. This has been an obstacle for me not only when working in a group but also in individual work.