The educational system is a mere replication of the working system yet with a more lucid emphasis on the theoretical part. Eventually, you would get to work within a team, collaborate and exchange ideas. Group work is a major highlight in most (if not all) subjects offered at UTS; mainly working on large projects within the time frame limited by the semester’s length.

It’s always great to work in groups; my experiences so far were very pleasant and I owe a lot to a couple of my group members who offered me a chance to get more experience and have steeper learning curve. The beauty lies in having different individuals (usually 3 to 6) from different backgrounds and disciplines, coming together for a common objective and goal. Each would be striving to make the most out of journey and exchange skills and expertise; learning from one another and adding to their already existent skills and experiences.

Yet, utopian group work is very rare. Being careful is needed to ensure a good group. Everybody is great (or should be), but at some points, different scenarios may come into play; life commitments, poor performance, signs of laziness, inefficient group meetings, etc, are recorded within my observation and participation during the last 2 years. Scheduling group meetings, especially in large groups, can be a hassle sometimes; finding a time when everybody can attend and be effective is not very common. Sometimes, it takes just one or two members to make a group troublesome; syndromes include: skipping meetings, not meeting deadlines, poor sentence structures and quality of work, making critical decisions, etc.

Alternatively, an ideal group would outline its project’s process within the first week of its formation. In some subjects, a compulsory "learning contract" is required; it’s a good way to ensure the course of a given project between all group members and between the group and the tutor.

Group work is fun! Hard work as well as hard play if you have the right combination. Despite the occasional ups and downs, teams are efficient in pushing the limits and expanding their skills; individuals moving out of their comfort zones and take up new roles to further learn and gain experience. I have to end in a special salute and thank you for all my current and previous team members, my colleagues and my friends, Kate, Kim, Peter, Mary, Laurent, Bec, Matthew, Trish, and everybody.

...maher