Individual Reflection Paper
Each person in class will complete this assignment.
What: Paper that reflects on your experience as a team member
Length: 750-1,000 words
Style: Times New Roman, 12 pt., double spaced; your name, team name and word count in upper right hand corner
WEIGHTED SCORING FOR REFLECTION PAPER
60% content in response to bulleted prompts in Parts I and II below
40% grammar/spelling/sentence structure/word count
Scoring rubric can be found on the Comm 8 Assignments page on my website under the heading “Resources”
SAMPLE PAPER: See end of this instruction sheet for an example of an A paper
INSTRUCTIONS
Part One:
In your paper, consider how you experienced each of the topics below within your team by reflecting on your team’s cohesion, conflict, roles, decision making/problem solving and leadership according to the following definitions. Incorporate information from the textbook and examples from your group experience.
Cohesion: The act or state of team members ticking together tightly
Conflict: A struggle between at least two team members who perceive incompatible goals and interference from others in an attempt to achieve a specific goal.
Roles: Sets of expectations about behavior and personal contribution in a group
Decision making/problem solving: Choosing between alternatives/overcoming obstacles
Leadership: Behavior or communication that influences, guides, directs or controls a group
Part Two:
At the end of your reflection paper, respond to the following two REQUIRED ITEMS in about 50 words each. Dig deep, be honest.
Item 1: Describe one action you, as an individual, could have taken this semester that would have improved the small group experience for all of your team members and tell why it would have improved the group’s experience.
Item 2: Describe something you learned this semester that you will use in a future group or team to make sure that team members are valued and appreciated. SAMPLE
John Smith
Comm B8, MW 8 a.m.
Word Count: 1,227
Part I The textbook defines cohesiveness as the degree of attraction group members feel toward one another and toward the group. Cohesiveness was something that our group never failed to have, even the first time we met. (Name), unfortunately, was not able to attend our Go To Lunch assignment due to an illness, but (Name), (Name) and myself bonded from the start. I think part of the reason we bonded so fast was our differences. I was very interested in listening to (Name) and (Name) as they told me their experiences and things about their lives, because it was very new to me. Before this group, I had never spent time with someone like (Name) or (Name). I think their experience with me was probably similar. I think because we were all so different, it kept us interested, and we found our experience new and exciting. Personally, I was really nervous going into the Go To Lunch assignment. I didn’t know what to expect from my group, but once we met for the first time, all my doubts were silenced. I think the main reason our group had so much cohesiveness is the fact that we were all focused on the same goal. We worked together well knowing that if we bonded, success would come. I was blessed with a group that had a lot of cohesiveness. It seems like every chapter we read in the textbook mentioned something about group conflict. In fact, conflict is part of the storming step in the four step process used to describe group formation--forming, norming, storming, and performing. Yet when it came to our group, I simply cannot think of anything that happened in our group that could be considered conflict. At no point during this class did our group have members at each others’ throats or arguing with one another. I think this was simple because we all were blessed to wind up in a group where our personalities gelled so well together. (Name) is someone we all respected, both as our elder and as a mother. Since she is a mother of six, she
