Negative views on a collges reputation Research Paper - 1

Negative views on a collges reputation - Research Paper Example The image that parents like of a college is that of well groomed, happy students who are academically focused and facing challenges that are no more difficult than the next exam. However, the exploration of self during the time period of college can lead to some risk behaviors that puts students in situations that threaten their safety. Most of the time, these situations are navigated and the parents have the illusion of a safe and secure child that is away at college. However, drinking statistics suggest that there is a better than 50% chance that their child is participating in heavy drinking once a week. The more terrifying survey result shows that college students don’t learn from the bad experiences they have while under the influence of alcohol and routinely underestimate that amount of alcohol they can drink before consequences are likely to occur (Knox and Schacht 475). When these behaviors lead to a situation that is beyond waking up with regret, an incident can occur that puts the university and the students at the center of the public stage, its reputation on the line and the safety of the students under its care in question. This happened to Duke University when members of the Lacrosse team held a party on March 13, 2006 which involved drinking and resulted in the decision to call an escort service to provide two Caucasian strippers. One African American arrived and one partial Asian woman arrived at the party, which caused some difficulties as they were not as ordered and in the end, the African American woman ended up accusing three of the members of the team, including the two captains of the team, with rape (Taylor and Johnson). The occasion of hiring strippers for athletic team parties was not uncommon on the campus and Taylor and Johnson report that as many as twenty parties that year had already occurred in which strippers had been

Arthur Schopenhauer Essay Example for Free

Arthur Schopenhauer Essay Arthur Schopenhauer is a German philosopher who was born on February 22nd, 1788 and died on September 21st, 1860. He was born in the city of Danzig but later moved to the city of Hamburg where he became interested in studying metaphysics, ethics and psychology. Schopenhauer is known as the philosopher of Pessimism because he created a theory that challenged the value of existence. Schopenhauer’s main focus was on individual motivation ‘the will’ and how human desires cause pain and suffering. He wrote a book on the will called The World as Will and Representation. This book was a collaboration of Kant’s idea of idealism with his own theory on that the will is the thing-in-itself. Schopenhauer was greatly influenced by thinkers like Kant and Plato. He as well influenced thinkers like Sigmund Freud, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Friedrich Nietzsche. Summary of Ideas: The ‘Will†: Schopenhauer believed that humans were only motivated by their basic desires. He believed that human desires only cause suffering and pain. As well he believed that human desires are illogical and directionless. He believed that the will controls all aspects of human life. Schopenhauer’s ideas on the will are similar to the ideas of Buddhism and the four noble truths. He believed that free will exists but humans are not able to achieve it because everything is determined by how the body reacts to a situation. He stated that Man can indeed do what he wants, but he cannot will what he wants. †(On the Freedom of the Will) Ethics: The basics of Schopenhauer ethics is about compassion. He believes compassion can’t be taught but only learned by experience. Compassion is the knowledge of seeing someone suffer equally to a suffering they have faced in their life and being able to relate and have sympathy for them. Schopenhauer distinguishes a good person not from the nature of their actions but the level of compassion they have for them. He believes that the difference between a good person and a normal person is distinguished by when seeing someone suffer the good person will sacrifice his own well-being for the other person. Therefore he takes on all their troubles. Schopenhauer believes this is the highest degree in ethical conduct. Pessimism: Schopenhauer believes since the will has no purpose or goal that the will can never achieve satisfaction. He believes the main goal of existence is to gain satisfaction but trying to achieve it is unsustainable because it leads to frustration. For that reason he says existence of human beings can only be characterized by suffering. He believes this theory is for all animals and since humans have a higher intellectual capacity that they will suffer more in life than any other animal. He as well stated that even using reasoning will not change the amount of suffering the person experiences because reason only increases the suffering. Schopenhauer concludes that nonexistence is and should be more preferable then existence. He believes people should realize that to exist is to suffer and the goal in life for people should be to try and resist one’s desires. Application: Animal Welfare: Schopenhauer believed humans and animals are essentially equal and the same. He believed that everything is basically will and that humans and animals are the same because they can recognize characteristics and emotion in each other. Schopenhauer stated â€Å"Unlike the intellect, it [the Will] does not depend on the perfection of the organism, but is essentially the same in all animals as that which is known to us so intimately. Accordingly, the animal has all the emotions of humans, such as joy, grief, fear, anger, love, hatred, strong desire, envy, and so on. The great difference between human and animal rests solely on the intellects degrees of perfection. (On the Will in Nature, Physiology and Pathology) He believed that a good person will have compassion for animals when they are hurt because they are fellow sufferers. People who are cruel to animals are not good people because they do not have compassion.

Studying In A Foreign Country Education Essay

Studying In A Foreign Country Education Essay My university experience till date has been one of the most unique, interesting, hectic and highly confusing in terms of adapting to a life I could not even imagine before. Its been a blend of fun and determination to stay focused, which is a continuing process and difficult to manage. I consider this reflective essay an opportunity to pen down my experiences, strengths and limitation that I encountered during my first year as a BA (Hons) Business Management and Studies student. These experiences influenced my day-to-day life and the development of my academic skills both directly and indirectly. Throughout the year, the numerous assignments, presentations and other module-related coursework presented challenges I have not encountered before and was both looking forward to and frightened by on a certain level. However, looking back on how I managed to organise my time management and balance my personal time, I am happy to say that semester one was a lesson to learn from and I am conf ident in thinking I am prepared to face new upcoming challenges with an optimistic attitude and determination to keep improving. Being an international student, studying in a foreign country, away from family and loved ones, has been overwhelming and challenging. The first challenge I was faced with was adjusting to the new culture and environment around me. Students coming from different cultures go through a phenomenon known as the Culture shock (Carroll and Ryan,). Culture differences include the physical environment, accommodation, the transport system and food which take time to get used to. Considering I come from a country with rich and colourful cultural background, getting used to the historical and cultural aspects of living in the Great Britain was a struggle at first. However, there are other types of shock the students from other cultures encounter as well. The so called Language shock had a lesser impact on my comfort as I have been studying English as my first language previous to coming here, but distinct accent of Wales made it hard for me to communicate to locals, which I find intimidating. A nd lastly, (Carroll and Ryan) explain that students from different cultures often encounter he so called Academic shock. The academic system here is very different compared to how I was educated in my home country, therefore giving me an opportunity to explore new ideas and perhaps realise new learning techniques that help me develop academically. Of course, there were some difficulties I encountered on the road to improvement and many more are to be expected, however I did not realise it would have such a significant impact on my previous abilities and knowledge. For example, writing assignments in an academic fashion is a new experience for me and finding relevant information and sources opened a new avenue of knowledge I had previously not encountered and admit to have struggled with at the beginning. However, the valuable feedback I received from my first essay helped boost my confidence and will to improve at all times. So far, the many new experienced turned out to be both positive and negative, having a different kind of impact on my learning and personal life. Probably the first and quite large difficulty I have encountered was the Harvard Referencing System and dealing with plagiarism, which we discussed at the beginning of the year. In India, my home country, we are not required to produce essays and other types of assignments consisting of references to other texts and sources. Therefore the world of British Academia based on avoiding the infamous plagiarism and always producing evidence of what is your own work and what is not, reminded me of trying to learn how to ride a bike. There were a few falls but in the end I managed to pick myself up and focus on the task, helping me learn and improve a skill that has been completely foreign to me beforehand. The amount of different types of sources, such as written text, academic journals, presentations and websites was initially over-whelming, whic h made me feel insecure about my abilities. However, I have soon realised that it does not have to be such a struggle and as I previously mentioned, the determination to learn and succeed won in the end. The best help I had at the beginning of this process was S. Cottrells guide on different types of referencing, which is a source that can be used at any point in my studies, even if another type of referencing will be required in my later years as a budding academic. (Cottrell) As stated by Allen (2005), finding and using information is a strategy that makes ones work easier. One has to focus on what is needed and read a lot of literature in order to get relevant matter from sources. I have put this knowledge to use hopefully successfully and hope to improve in the future. Receiving an encouraging A grade for my first assignment, made me realise that no student is perfect at the beginning if their academic journey and experience, and therefore I started believing in simply giving my best to any work I produce, which essentially is what is expected of me. As previously mentioned, the first semester was a lesson to learn from and the value of feedback was something I did not realise until it helped me improve radically. I have come to see that the reason why feedback is so important is that it gives all students a board to bounce off. The lack of references and relevant material in some of my essays was pointed out to me in a manner that was both professional and instead of making me feel defeated actually made me to push myself into improvement. In order to improve as I wish, I need to be more organised and have a clear understanding of what is expected of me from each assignment before collecting any information that might be relevant to the topic. Therefore I have been inspired by my fellow students who work according to a study plan which helps them organise their time, stay on track with their assignments and leave some time in order to contact the tutor if any difficulties or miscomprehension arise. According to Burn and Sinfield (2003), group work is a technique designed to reduce work load and share equal responsibility among group members to achieve goals in a limited time period. Group presentations became my favourite way of learning and something I look forward as a part of each of my modules. We usually work in a group of 3-4 people and during both the first and the second semester; we had the chance of preparing and presenting 3 group presentations. According to the Marxist views on education, working in groups at university prepares us to for the world of work by introducing us to any team work that we can encounter in our future employment, as well as authority respect and audience awareness. The limitations of our first group presentation experience varied from getting to know and work with people I did not know previously, and organising time for group meetings. One of the group members was, to put it as a laic, rude and had no consideration for other team members op inions, as well as wanting to do more work compared to others. His behaviour and attitude made me and the others feel less important and willing to work with him, as we could not contribute in the way we wished to. Since the lack of appropriate way of communication was so pronounced and equality in work contribution was non-existent, our performance was average and resulted in unusually low grades to all members. For our next assignment as the same group, we have decided to clear any issues that arouse during our first presentation to improve both our working relationship as a group and our performance to gain better grades and improve based on the feedback we received. The discussion helped us in many ways as we managed to assign equal contribution of work and made working together as a group less stressful and more of an enjoyable experience. Our presentation was not only spot on as required, but our teamwork has improved rapidly and was noticed by the tutor, receiving positive fe edback as well. Burn and Sinfield (2003) have suggested various tips and gave invaluable advice concerning group work, in order to make it more successful and productive. This advice included a variety of group work forms and processes, such as Belbins group roles, SWOT group work techniques and Adairs processes. Personally, I have found the SWOT group work technique to be most inspirational for my future enhancement and wish to include this technique in the future while preparing assigned presentations. SWOT analysis of the group allows one to identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats in a group. This helps nullifying the weaknesses at an individual level, and promoting the strength of the team members on a holistic level. The lack of knowledge of various presentation techniques inevitably resulted in, what I personally consider, an average, bordering on abysmal performance during my first presentation. Upon personal reflection, I realise my own limitations in the area of workin g with people and therefore wish to improve inter-personal relationships as a part of my personal development plan. The A levels I completed in my education in India consisted of subjects in the Science field and some related to it. Hence, not having a background in studying business and economics on a certain level like my fellow students was a considerable disadvantage, just like my lack of knowledge in the referencing ethics. Since I did not possess the basic knowledge of business, I was considered to be a slow learner compare to other students in my modules. Understanding economics was one of the biggest struggles I experienced and till date still find it difficult to comprehend, which I admit is highly discouraging. The regular economic quizzes provided on the blackboard helped me improve exponentially, however that does not mean I still do not feel like a fish out of water in this field. Finance however is a subject I enjoyed greatly, compared to how economics made me feel, and received valuable feedback on which allowed me to improve and gain better results. It was the subject I enjoyed stu dying the most and even considered majoring in it. All new modules I had the opportunity to study provided many new ideas and concepts for me, but with every positive comes a slight drawback. Each module requires a certain type of assignment, either a report or an essay. Both types of assignment form were foreign to me before my life as a developing academic and therefore the lectures on how to write an essay, reflective or other, helped me greatly in understanding the way in which my work had to be written and presented. Report style assignments were a struggle as a concept, closely tied to not having experience in studying business and management beforehand, where I believe such skills develop more gradually and improve at university level. Therefore instead of improving upon a skill I already had, report and essay writing is something that I had to learn consequently to coming to Britain and only now, after gaining some experience with assignments, I can improve on whatever skills I have gained predominantly in the first semester. Lastly, managing time is a rare resource or rather a skill, and there can be severe consequences if not grasped and developed correctly. Not only as a student but as a future employee as well, working in a demanding environment requires having a firm grasp of time management. Without this expected and highly demanding skill, future employability may become an issue, which I would rather not face. Since I am provided with the opportunity to learn how to manage my time and organise my schedule as university, I would consider it a personal failure if I did not develop these skills in order to gain better employability. Gaining new skills and improving upon the existing one is a continuous process, however I take it as an opportunity and a challenge to improve not only academically but as a rounded human being as well. My experience in Great Britain will hopefully become something to cherish and my determination and strengths something to focus at while looking for a future employment as well. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3GZ-cbg04cYCpg=PA150dq=guide+to+international+students+facing+difficultyhl=ensa=Xei=HtdeT5KZPOyY0QXHvp2fBwsqi=2ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=guide%20to%20international%20students%20facing%20difficultyf=false http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3GZ-cbg04cYCpg=PA150dq=guide+to+international+students+facing+difficultyhl=ensa=Xei=HtdeT5KZPOyY0QXHvp2fBwsqi=2ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=o

cathedrals :: essays papers

cathedrals Throughout the centuries, beautiful Medieval cathedrals have been towering above every building and till this day, still survive with their astonishing appearance. Their structure resemble the power and glory of heavens. Today, they are known as "prayers in stone" because they are respected as holy places. Taking literally hundreds of years to build these great Gothic buildings, the skillful carpenters and masons responsible for the construction are respected for constructing these powerful buildings that tell us about the past (Macdonald 1). The construction of the cathedrals were more than hundreds of years (Macdonald 14). The overall shape of appearance was planned out before any construction was started. The contractors were usually peasants of the low class. Cathedrals were built on old church sites throughout Europe and the world to spread the religion of Christianity. There were many architectural styles for the churches. Carpenters used long lasting materials such as stone and strong wood. Some of the best stone came from France. Cranes and pulleys powered by men and animals were used to haul these stones, especially in the dangerous job of quarrying. The appearance of the cathedrals were magnificent. As one of the largest buildings of its time period, they represented the heavens in which people believed was peaceful and serene. Walls and pillars were massive structures enclosing hundreds of yards. Stone arches and gargoyles were put in various places for decoration. The elevating towers on top of the cathedrals were called "fingers" pointing to heaven. Inside these enormous "fingers," immense bells and clocks were placed. Stained-glass windows on the sides describe the lord, Jesus, and his life. The ever going ceilings and their paintings represent heaven. Statues symbolized sacred priests of the church (Macdonald Intro.). The purpose of these cathedrals were to praise and thank God. People offer prayers and offerings to God at the great cathedrals thinking it would bring a prosperous and healthy life. In the Middle Ages, these "prayers in stone" were made to spread Christianity throughout the world. Being the Bishop’s church, the greatest centers of studies were inside the depths of the cathedrals. The pope answered the most theorized questions about Christianity. Cathedrals and the people inside implored that God is the most important part of a person’s life and should be thanked for everything.

Curriculum for Teaching Social Skills

Teaching social skills to young children is a difficult task under any circumstance however when the children are suffering from emotional or behavioral problems it seems to interfere with this process and make it much more difficult. There are several known answers through curriculum that can help educators to be able to work on social skills with students who are facing either emotional or behavioral problems or both. Through the use of these curriculums there can be great benefits to both the students and the teachers.The teachers will benefit in being able to work on social situations with the students in their classrooms and in being able to communicate the strong need for social interaction in life. The students will benefit by being able to work on building friendships, trusting others and really finding a way to communicate how they are able to do these things. Curriculum Options for Teachers One of the problems that have often faced teachers who are working with children who have emotional or behavioral problems is that they are unable to communicate their social needs to the teacher.These students have a hard time being able to express their need for friendship, the need to describe feelings or the ability to be able to communicate any of this to others. Through information that has been gathered by researchers it has been concluded that these students need direct intervention into their ability to socialize with others. There have been multiple suggestions as to how this can happen and what would be a good way of introducing social skills to these students. There are many different methods and ways that this can be done.One way that has been shown to be successful is one on one interaction with the students and role play into specific situations. Obviously the situations have to be mild and can not be too involved or too intense but rather something that is on the same thinking level as the students involved (Vaughn, Sinagub, and Kim 2004). Success f or the students who were experiencing these emotional and behavioral problems has drastically depended on the type of curriculum that was used to introduce and teach social skills.One study looked at story problems as a way to teach these skills to students who were suffering from emotional problems and this study showed a drastic improvement in these students having the ability to communicate with each other. The students were better able to understand through the story the idea of how one might feel or how reactions of theirs can be harmful to others. However, the students were unable to comprehend these same ideas and beliefs when they were just discussing them and not hearing them in a story (Rahill and Teglasi 2003).There could be many conclusions drawn from these examples and this type of curriculum. The idea is that the students have the ability to understand and comprehend what is being said about things and how they are interacting with others. When the student is not force d to look at the whole picture and is used to just getting glimpses they are unable to realize the overall impact of issues, however when they are exposed to the entire story or belief then they are able to understand the entire story and can reason as to why the others are feeling the way that they are.Without this ability to reason the student would be unable to successfully communicate with others and could not be thought of in the same social light and category as if they were able to understand these issues. Another great option for teachers to use in the classroom to teach social skills is to be trained in how to incorporate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy into the curriculum. By using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT the student is learning how to control their own behaviors and emotions.This is probably one of the best options for students who have behavioral or emotional problems as it is a way for them to learn how to be able to control things themselves without warnings o r discipline. There are a number of ways that this treatment can be integrated into the classroom. One thing is for sure though that teachers need to be aware of the therapy and how to properly integrate it into the classroom prior to using it in the classroom setting.If they are not competent and they try to use it there are many things that could go wrong and the children could be emotionally damaged in some way as with all therapeutic processes. This subject has been widely researched. â€Å"During the past two decades, researchers have found that cognitive strategies can decrease disruption/aggression and strength pro-social skills† (Daunic, Smith, Brank and Penfield 2006, 123). To better understand the benefits of CBT being integrated into the classroom it would be important to understand some basic facts about CBT.CBT is basically a way of self control where the student is taught how to control their negative behaviors or emotions in order to prevent behavioral issues. Through CBT the student would learn how to understand when they are reaching a point where they are going to react in an inappropriate way and they would be able to monitor themselves and talk themselves down. For younger students this would prove to be more difficult to learn but by learning the process young the students would be able to carry it over into their current lives and how they react in most situations.With this process being taught in the classroom there might even be further benefits in the student’s home and other extracurricular activities as the student would apply some of the same lessons and principles to the situations that they were involved in at these locations. All of these advantages could be gained and getting needed training is not difficult for educators and something that they can discuss with their superiors and school boards. There are other forms of intervention that could be used in the classroom curriculum.With students who are suffering fro m autism there are special skills and curriculums that could be offered to help with their behavioral difficulties. There is a call for a new curriculum that would be an advantage to all students with emotional and behavioral difficulties and not just those who were suffering from autism. For the most part articles that are written on this subject point out that no current curriculum is available for this issue and that there are some key components that would need to be featured if there were to be a curriculum.Of the many key components that would need to be considered one is to â€Å"make the abstract concrete. † Students who are suffering from emotional and behavioral problems often have a hard time being able to understand the abstract thoughts that are often a part of teaching social skills. By making concrete examples that these students can understand there is a higher likelihood that they will apply these principles to their own interactions on a social level. Anothe r area that is needed is â€Å"structure and predictability.† Having a classroom with a set routine is something that is important as when students are taken out of a routine situation they often have anxiety and with behavioral issues anxiety often ends in the student not being able to communicate his or her needs and having a breakdown in the classroom. By having â€Å"engaged transactions† the students would be able to learn what their overall needs were and would be able to practice communication and social skills with one another.Through â€Å"scaffolded language support† the students would be able to work on better using language and communication in a way that all people would understand. â€Å"Multiple and varied learning opportunities† might seem as though it would be repetitive or boring for the students however for students who are suffering from emotional or behavioral problems this might just be exactly what is needed for them to understand. By planning â€Å"’other’ focused activities† in the classroom it would allow the students a break from learning social skills and could promote a better understanding of the skills during future lessons.Looking at â€Å"fostering self awareness and self esteem† is also important as it would show each child that he or she is special and would encourage them to believe in their own self worth. Another area that needs improvement is that the teachers need to focus on having â€Å"select relevant goals. † When teachers try to teach students with emotional or behavioral difficulties too many things it threatens to worsen their condition and can cause them to have multiple additional problems with what they are already having.Some other teaching methods like â€Å"sequential and progressive programming† are also a huge advantage as are â€Å"programmed general and ongoing information. † All of these practices and initiatives can be easily added to most curriculums in the classroom and could really have great advantages to the students who have emotional and behavioral issues (Krasny, Williams, Provencal, and Ozonoff 2003). Benefits to Teachers for Using a Curriculum to Teach Social Skills There are many benefits that can be seen by teachers who are choosing to teach social skills and social skill improvement to students who suffer from emotional and behavioral problems.Some of these are that there is an increased focus on the student being able to perform and being able to interact with others in a positive manner. Through this the student would be able to interact with the teacher in a more positive manner as well. These skills would also help there to be fewer disturbances and disruptions in the classroom which is a great benefit for the teaching in her ability to control her classroom. Benefits to Students for Using a Curriculum to Teach Social Skills There are also many advantages for the students who are working on learning social skills.The students are able to take advantage of these skills and these areas because they are learning how to communicate better with others. Communication is such an important part of our world and the world around us and without communication one would suffer in many areas of life. Also there are valid reasons why friendships can really aid in a student’s overall behavioral and emotional issues and students who have more friends are less likely to have these types of problems. If a student learns these new social skills they are likely to have more friends, do better at home and in school and overall be in trouble less often.Conclusion In conclusion, it is important that teachers be taught the necessary skills needed to integrate certain behaviors into the classroom. The teachers need to be able to integrate programs into their curriculum that will teach students with emotional and behavioral difficulties the much needed social skills. These much neede d social skills will improve the student’s lives in so many ways and will help the students to be able to be better behaved and more successful in a number of areas of their lives. References Daunic, A. P. , Smith, S. W. , Brank, E. M. , and Penfield, R. D. (2006).Classroom-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention to Prevent Aggression: Efficiency and Social Validity, Journal of Social Psychology, 44(2), 123-139. Krasny, L. , Williams, B. J. , Provencal, S. , and Ozonoff, S. (2003). Social Skills Intervention for the Autism Spectrum Essential Ingredients and a Model Curriculum, Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 12(1), 107-122. Vaughn, S. , Sinagub, J. and Kim, A. (2004). Chapter 10 Social Competence/Social Skills of Students with Learning Disabilities: Interventions and Issues, Learning about Learning Disabilities, (3rd ed. ), 341-373.

Group Assignment Essay

A group is a collection of three or more people who interact and attempt to influence each other in order to accomplish a common purpose. The purpose of a group or team may range from preparing a new advertising campaign, to sharing information informally, to making important decisions, to fulfilling social needs, or just coming up with a solution to help a friend in need. Groups are a fundamental structure for accomplishing a wide variety of human tasks. I love working in groups because they give you a chance to work together with new personalities and new, refreshing ideas. The only time I don’t like working in groups is when there are people who aren’t willing to put the effort they could and posses, into the work assigned. During our last two classes we were separated into groups of six and given different topics which we were supposed to come up with solutions for. For the most part my group worked very well together on the first topic. We had great communication, and everyone was able to share their opinion on the matter. I believe that our group showed all of the characteristics of a healthy group, and if I had to do future group work I would most definitely choose to work with that group again. We showed interdependence which is the relation between two or more people and how their relationship directly affects the other. First, we started off by explaining the topic to the group again, than we each took turns going around in the circle and explaining how we each felt about the subject. After each person was done, the group took turns asking that person about questions about their view of the subject trying to take in everybody else’s opinions as well as our own and taking them into consideration instead of just throwing out someone else’s idea. I believe we all held each other accountable as well; making sure that everyone was conforming to the group’s norms and working together towards the group goal. No one interrupted anyone else. We made sure that everyone had a chance to speak their mind without being criticized or looked down upon because of the way they were thinking. We took everyone else’s thoughts and put them together to come up with what we believed to be a good solution for the topic that we were given. I was in a group with Sonny and I believe that he took the leadership role within the group. He was the most vocal, and the person who got others to speak their minds. I also think that my role within the group was that of a supporter. I was encouraging different members of our group whether their ideas were accepted by the group, or dismissed. I have always been afraid or nervous of working in groups during class because I usually don’t know any of people in my group, but working in a group with unfamiliar people is better because none of those people have a bias opinion about you. You can speak your mind without having to hear somebody else criticize your opinions or thoughts. In conclusion, I believe working in groups is an easy and efficient way to come up with well thought out, plausible solutions for many different situations that you might not be able to come up with on your own or with just one other person. These past two days have given me a more broad understanding of groups, and how to participate in one.