Final Project Reflection

One of the final assignments I completed for ESCI 310 was a unit plan. This was the first unit plan I have ever completed and it was definitely a challenge. I don’t want to place blame for the way our final product turned out, but I was not 100% satisfied with it.  It was challenging choosing a topic because we did not want to do the same topic as another group, but we had chosen our topic on the very first day only to find out part way through the semester that two other groups had decided to choose that topic, so we chose another topic, only to be told a few weeks later that a few other groups were doing the same topic and the same grade level.  This was really frustrating so we chose to do Grade 3 magnetism.  As soon as we chose that topic and wrote it on the presentation sheet another group had said they were going to do magnetism, which was really frustrating  I feel like we had planned out our lessons and ideas multiple times yet were too nice and not wanting to do the same content material.

Another challenge, which I believe was the largest hurdle for myself was my group mates.  Cooperative learning groups are great when you work with them throughout the semester, but I feel like we rarely ever worked with our cooperative learning groups.  This project seemed to be the only one we were fully required to work with those groups.  I think by having us work with our partners more throughout the semester would have provided more of a cooperative learning experience throughout the class and specifically on this project.  I felt like my group was a little divided, with two of us completing most of the work and the third group member completing her later and not to my satisfaction.  By the time the third group member had submitted her work it was too late for me to go through and fix it and make it something I would be proud to hand in.  Handing in a project that was not to my standards was really frustrating for me and is something I never had to deal with until now. This planning experience taught me a lot about who I would want to work with in the future as a group mate and who I would never want to work with again.

While this planning experience was a great learning experience with many ups and downs, it was definitely a worthwhile experience.  I learned a lot about people in my class, my group mates, and how to deal with certain types of people in the future. While I was not completely satisfied with the final product we submitted, I feel like it was adequate and my group mates felt it was adequate as well.  I know for the next time I complete a group project like this that I will allow for more time for the final editing of the entire project so I will be satisfied with the outcome. I feel that my participation in the group was essential in getting the project done, even though it was not completed to my standards.