3.4 Collaborate effectively in a group setting within the discipline

The following documents are artifacts from presentations that I and my peers have collaborated on in various classes, based on research conducted as a group in each course. The documents are from Introduction to Ecology and Evolution (200-level), Comprehensive Anatomy and Physiology I (300-level), and Cancer Biology (400-level), respectively. Each document is a representation of collaboration from peer groups to display research that was conducted in each group.

Collaborating on each document after conducting research together taught me crucial skills to effectively working with others in a group setting. Particularly, I learned that I should let others freely express their thoughts and ideas and that I have the pleasure of working with other like-minded adults, that do not need direct supervision. I have the innate desire to take the lead in every situation and group that I am in. So, I have had to learn to collaborate on these different projects by letting others take control of their own parts of the projects. Letting others freely express their ideas has also shown me that research and projects can be beautifully diverse in styles and interpretations when multiple people come together to work towards a common goal. As I progressed through my courses, shown below in chronological order, I can particularly appreciate that the more that I learned how to be a team player, the better the end result was.

The skills that I have learned from effectively collaborating within a group in the biological science will carry through to the workplace and all of my future projects. The foundation skills that I need to contribute effectively to a group have been laid, with the help of working in many different peer groups at Longwood. In any group setting, I am aware that it is crucial to be attentive to other’s ideas and let each member of a group contribute equally to the project.