Before I talk about my experience and feelings about the project, how my time has been working in a group, and how our presentation went, Here you can find the full final presentation and Narrative we made:
So, from the start, I have enjoyed the project. At the start, I was a bit unsure on some parts but as the unit went by I have had so much fun learning new ways to collaborate and getting my mind to think in so many ways. The module meant I could work on skills that I am usually not working on as often, giving a new life to some of my previous hobbies. The course has also shown me there is so much more to group work. I’m often someone who would struggle in groups as I’m a perfectionist and want things to be done to a high standard but now realised that when your in a group with good communication, people are listening to your thoughts and emotions throughout and work so everyone is happy and on the same page. I’ve had a great time with this and definitely feel the creative type test completed at the beginning of the module meant all of us had different ways of designing creating a balance. Another thing learned which Andrew gave me insight into was the different learning types there are. These learning types were developed showing learning approaches that individuals naturally prefer to maximise their learning. These different learning types are:
- Activist
- Theorist
- Pragmatist
- Reflector
All of these types are very different, holding characteristics and activities that make them their own. The one that we feel is our learning type as a group would be Activist. ‘Activists are those people who learn by doing. Activists need to get their hands dirty, to dive in with both feet first. Have an open-minded approach to learning, involving themselves fully and without bias in new experiences.’ (University of Leicester, n.d.). This learning type is very fitting for our group, firstly due to how hands-on and problem-solving our group has been. Throughout we would continue brainstorming and discussing with one another how we could maybe change something to hold more power. We also made sure everyone was happy all the way through and each of our opinions was reviewed and changes were made where needed. This definitely grew stronger bonds between us. Secondly, wanting to make an impact with our piece. We felt that it was necessary to get our thoughts across on the impact of climate change and feel we succeeded in putting this across in our video. Linking back to the activist learning type, they can be seen as open-minded and throughout our group has consistently been seeing new opportunities and changing things to fit the criteria better.
One other big ability our group held throughout was amazing time management skills. We knew the deadline from the start and tried to think of this while working to keep on top of everything so it didn’t pile up at the end. We also understood that we all had other modules and work to be focusing on so taking the stress off one module would make it easier for us. I found this was really helpful for me as I wasn’t nervous at all about completing this project as we were on top of it and, it meant I was able to then spread the workload evenly for other modules that took up more of my analytical thinking.
Moving to the presentation in general. We had our presentation today so I decided to write this reflection now as all my thoughts and feeling are fresh on my mind. Overall, I feel overwhelmed. Overwhelmed in a good way. Jules, Simone, and Matt all loved our presentation and artefact piece which bought happiness to me as all the hours put in was definitely worth it. They loved the dynamic of it all and the flow of the narrative together which was something I felt strongly about, so seeing others thinking the same bought me joy. The process of putting the presentation together went well for us. We all met in a group call to then place it together and realise who would speak on what. We then each went off and wrote what our voice-over was going to be for our dedicated slides. Something we did throughout the whole process was reviewing things in our group chat before then finalising things. We did this for the voice-overs too, each putting our words into the chat and seeing if it sounded okay and flowed with one another. Jess then put it all together with her brilliant editing skills!
Overall from the unit, I feel happy and excited about my future working in group settings. At the start of the unit, you would never hear me saying this as I never had been a fan of group work. This really bought me self-growth in my personal development and I fully have my group to thank for that, so thank you Koni, Jess, and Andrew! You guys made this project so enjoyable to be a part of. My last thanks go to Jules, Simone, and Matt. This unit was amazing and I enjoyed the teaching as it felt like a small community within the module that felt a safe space to feel open with my opinions and views. I have had a brilliant time studying Engaged Citizenship Through Interdisaplenary Practice thanks to the amazing staff and students I have been able to work with!
Reference
University of Leicester. (n.d.). Honey and Mumford. https://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/doctoralcollege/training/eresources/teaching/theories/honey-mumford