Week 2, Post 3: The Inters

*1). Groups are living systems based on interdependence and interrelationships. What happens to a small group when parts of the system do not function well? Provide two examples from your own small group experiences that show the importance of understanding interdependence and interrelationships.

Interdependence is all about the notion of “two (or more) heads are better than one.” It’s the whole reason why we work in small groups to begin with and not independently by ourselves. In small groups, we’re supposed to share ideas, agree/disagree with other’s opinions we the group can come to a common denominator, and so new ideas can form that maybe wouldn’t have if everyone were to work independently. If parts of the system don’t function well, the group isn’t taking advantage of being in a group, working together, sharing ideas, getting work done faster, etc. The group begins to fall apart and essentially isn’t a group anymore because they aren’t working together. I remember in one of my small groups no body communicated with each other outside of class, and inside of class one or two members made all of the decisions and ask didn’t ask the rest of the group for opinions. This resulted in half of the group not totally knowing what was going on, so when the final presentation came that half of the group hasn’t as prepared and knowledgeable as the other half who had taken over. Another time I had a group that we worked on quizzes in-class together, and every single time the same people would say what they thought the answer was and the same people would just write down the answer and not contribute. There were times when our answers were wrong so we didn’t get full points, and if the whole group had contributed instead of just half we might’ve been able to get all the answers correct.