Grading on a Curve

As educators and instructors, grading individual’s work is a very common task that participate in daily. However, it’s not a common thing for us to ask to grade our own work and performance as I will be doing in the next few paragraphs. For many of us we tend to be our own worst critics and I certainly fall into that category, but I also want to make sure I’m fair to myself. With that being said, the assessment score that I will be supporting is 80-89. The overall reason for assessing myself this score, is the criteria of missing one key contribution and/or supporting contribution set forth. As I continue my educational journey, I look forward to greatly improving my overall contributions to my learning community and my self-assessment of that input.

Reflection and Feedback to Improve

When it comes to working in and contributing to a learning community what you get back is just as important if not more important than what you put in. I felt that the most impactful contribution and entity that worked the most was the group’s reflections and feedback of each other’s work. “The value of receiving and providing effective feedback cannot be overstated in a world whereby progress is driven by continuous learning” (Ryan, 2023). Having the opportunity to view others work and reflect on things to incorporate or remove from your own work, really helps your laser in on what you really want to achieve and/or say through your projects. A great example of reflection and feedback in our learning community would actually be the submittal of my assignment, integrating the 4DX in course 5304 as well as the sharing of my growth mind set plan and learning manifesto in course 5302. With all three of these assignments, team members were able to make their assignments available through group chat and got substantial input on things that really worked as well as some tweaks or changes that could be made. The team members I routinely collaborated with on both assignments and discussion boards were Tammy Richmond, Benjamin Portillo, Adaliz Barroso Torrado, Melissa Richards, and Regginee Flora-Booker. Throughout the span of this semester and courses 5302 and 5304, all these team members provided priceless reflection and feedback that helped me grow exponentially in my learning journey.

Changing What Needs Changing

Working in a learning community can prove to be quite challenging, especially when it comes to collaboration timing and communication. “Creative collaboration is a critical component to project-based learning and design thinking. But it’s not as simple as assigning members to teams and then walking away. Collaboration is hard work because it’s deeply relational and all relationships have challenges” (Spencer, 2024). With everyone having different circumstances going on in their lives, communication, even with all the different options can be challenging to keep consistence. For me, with working full-time and being an instructor in the military, I have really struggled with my timing regarding group collaboration. This is an issue that many of my classmates have voiced they struggle with as well. In the future, I think that me and some of my community learning team members can greatly improve on this issue by better scheduling to make-up for the day-to-day challenges all our personal lives present.

My Contributions

As a team member in the learning community for this course as well as my other courses, I pride myself in offering helpful ideas and feedback that my team members can effectively utilize towards their educational growth. “To create an environment where people feel their contributions are valued, encourage full authentic selves by establishing psychological safety, create a welcoming environment, give people independence in their job, recognize mistakes as learning opportunities and create a supportive culture” (Redziniak, 2021). Whenever a classmate shared their work, I always tried to encourage and thank them for sharing their work, while make sure that I give them some ideas that they can reflect on even if they ultimately choose to go in a different direction. With my own learning, I really focused on expanding my learning ideology. Talking to classmates and studying the impact of a growth mindset has allowed me alter my vision of learner, educator, and leader for the better. Learning collaboratively is not something that comes natural to me but I’m truly better because of it and eagerly look forward to further progression. 

Reference

  Redziniak, Sms. E. (2021, May 19). The benefits of encouraging contribution among team members. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. https://www.aflcmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2622129/the-benefits-of-encouraging-contribution-among-team-members/

Ryan, B. (2023, August 14). Why is constructive feedback important? Thirst. https://thirst.io/blog/why-is-constructive-feedback-important/

Spencer, J. (2024, October 17). The five biggest pitfalls of collaborative grouping (and how to avoid them). John Spencer. https://spencereducation.com/group-collaboration-next-level/

Group Collaborations