As promised, I am chronicling the ups AND downs of my Ph.D. program. Halfway through the first semester I had a small meltdown this morning. Let me explain ...
Group work is oddly a part of distance education. I should do a study on how effective this method is, because in my three years of online experience, I can answer with a resounding negative. Working in the "real" world, I have no problem with teamwork. I do just fine. Working with students who are not always as invested in school as they are as their jobs, I have had nothing but problems. For the past three weeks my group has been working on a project together. Two of us have contributed with thoughtful discussion, sound research and timely communication. Two of us (actually two of them, not me) have not. As my other teammate and I moved forward, not wanting to wait until the last minute and not devote proper time and attention to the project. The other two chimed in, now 9 days later, and 2 weeks before the project is due, to complain that they felt left out. Left out? Really? We used two forms of communication to reach them, e-mail and the discussion threads set up for this purpose. We continually asked them for their input and suggestions, only to be ignored. Now they feel left out?
I have no tolerance for laziness and excuses. We cannot use the "I'm just so busy" excuse any longer. I work full-time, 40-50 hours a week, in fact, I am taking 3 3-credit graduate-level courses online, and I have a family and home to care for, and my own hobbies and interests, as most people do. If you want to play in the grown-up world, you'd better be prepared to make some sacrifices, which these two teammates have not done. If you don't want to pull your weight, fine, I'll do the work so that it gets done to my standards. But when you start complaining, especially to the professor, that you feel left out because you CHOOSE not to log on to the discussion threads for over a week, I have nothing but stern consternation and rabid disgust for you. However, today I was the bigger person. I assured these missing-in-action teammates that they should still contribute and that we were not trying to exclude them. I wanted to let it go. I really did. I also know that unless by some grace of good fortune they are washed out of a program they are not intellectually or emotionally capable of completing, that I may have to work with them in the next four years.
However, this is something that I will add to a course evaluation, and I abide by the rule that if something is wrong, I need to tell the instructor before I write it on an evaluation. I fear that she will think I'm being pedantic and aggressive, so I merely told my side, asking her not to solve the problem but rather to hear my side. I know far too well about the 'squeaky wheel' adage.
What would you do when faced with a situation you need to exert influence over but actually have very little influence?
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