wk. 5/9-15 quest. 3

3) A topic in the book that I liked was avoidance. I don’t think it was discussed enough... I personally felt that my mother in particular used avoidance when I was younger towards my sister and I. We would constantly fight with each other and mom my was tired of dealing with are problems. She would say, its your problem, you deal with it. This strategy did not help our relationship, as sisters, mother and daughter and further more the whole family was frustrated with our bickering. Avoidance is withdrawing from the conflict, which is due to lack of information or understanding. I feel my mom was avoiding my sister and I because she didn’t know how to handle our conflicts. She never had a sister and never understood our personalities were completely different and just because we were sisters, didn’t mean we were just going to get along.

wk. 5/9-15 quest. 2

2) I liked doing the observation of an outside group project. Besides reading the course material I was able to see a real small group in action. I am a member of a small group myself at work, but observing a group from the exterior was very insightful. I got to carefully look at each group member and make connections to the concepts we learned about in our book. When I began writing my essay it was easy to make careful analysis of the group because I already had made these specific connections. My small group was a little small, it would have been more interesting to observe a slightly larger group. I was also disappointed that my group did not have much cultural diversity. I was very intrigued by this communication concept during the course and was upset that I wasn’t able to watch a diverse team group work together. But I was able to discuss how a lack of diversity helped and did not help the group I observed, so it worked out.

wk. 5/9-15

1) CMC communication differs from face to face communication because the use of technology is only used in CMC. When I’m engaging in face to face communication I always seem to need to look on the internet to finalize answers or research, discover new things, or for references on images. Its difficult to not have recourses with you now when in order to have effective communication. Our society is ran at such a high speed, if you do not have media, audia, texting, istant messaging communication seems dull and less effective. Our time is valuable, CMC is most times the better and more effective way of communication. I still think that face to face has plenty of benefits, our socialization is tested when we are communicating face to face, so many other factors come up when communicating face to face. Especially in groups, roles, norms ect. come in more when group members are at a meeting face to face.

wk. 4/25-5/2 quest. 3

3) A concept from chapter 12 interested me and put the idea of power into a perspective I didn’t notice at first. Power in context is in all people, yes but it resides in relationships not in individuals. Power is relative to a small group. For example if I were just an individual without a group how exactly would I execute my power? I need to be with other individuals in order to put my power in to work. Harris and Sherblom said that even the smallest amount of power by an individual in the group is still power. The trash hauler has power in the group, just like another community member who may run the neighborhood watch. Every individual should understand that they exude power to their small groups, and it doesn’t matter if the power is great or small. Harris and Sherblom also explained how an individual may feel out of place when in a small group and one may have a different form of power. They should be aware of their power and be proud to be the only on who has it.

wk. 4/25-5/2 quest. 2

2) A collaborative conflict resolution that I have engaged most recently would be between my sister and I and our parents. When I come home for breaks from school we pick up right where we left off and start bickering. These problems have been going on for awhile, deeply rooted. But we were willing to all sit down and collaborate in finding a solution to the fighting. We discussed our dislikes and likes about each other and decided that we need to work it out and be able to come to a consensus and learn that we both want the same things. Mainly to be able to talk to one another and not always argue. My sister wanted to be more competitive about our situation in the beginning, putting blame on me, and not owning up to her faults as well. But I prefer the collaborative method of communicating, its easier and in the end more effective.

wk. 4/25-5/2 quest. 1

1) A forum is a public discussion where the full audience participates after the small groups presentation. A panel is when a group of four to eight experts discuss a problem or decision in front of an audience. A colloquium is when a group of three to six experts discuss a problem in front of an audience but have a moderator facilitating their interaction. A symposium is a series of two to six speeches made up of different aspects of the complex problem. I would prefer to participate in a symposium because it is more concise and divides the problem already into groups where it might be improved. Each speaker will have a different topic and be very familiar with the topic, each other member would be familiar with theirs and therefore the individuality will help the group discuss the bigger issue with in the problem. The audience will be more inclined to discuss the topics because they will be organized.

wk. 4/16-4/24 quest. 3

3) A concept that I found interesting in chapter 10 was sharing. Sharing in small groups is being able to share relevant information, resources, and responsibility. Once a group is able to share these things, trust is formed, and it is easier for a small group to get along and be able to preform specific tasks. Without this trust members in a small group can become defensive and this does not help group members communicate effectively, leaving the group disoriented, disorganized and not comfortable to be involved in. When members of the group are defensive this also squashes creativity. Creativity stems from being open and being able to not have any preconceived notions about what is right or wrong. Sharing is being open to trust and allow for new ways of thinking. When members of a group can look past being right and wrong and put down their defenses, the room for creativity can arise. Groups will ultimately benefit from sharing.