Here in Soka University, I find it awesome that people really meet face-to-face during discussions for group activities. Soka students don't settle for mere Facebook Chat meeting, Google Docs meeting, etc. They actually set a date, time, and place to discuss a group presentation. I can't help but compare it to De La Salle University (DLSU) where after choosing their group mates, most DLSU students will immediately agree to have FB Group then discuss matters there and/or create a Google Doc so they could just do it together or something like that... It's like face-to-face meeting isn't a thing in DLSU. Maybe because of the fast paced environment DLSU has, there is somehow no time for students to actually meet to discuss things properly for a group activity... But also maybe because some DLSU students don't have proper time management that they cannot meet face-to-face for group project discussions...
Based from my experience of group activities, All of the group members (including me) would agree on creating a FB Group and just discuss everything there. We would just post our output then there will be someone who will collect it to fix or edit it. Or at times one would create a GoogleDoc and post it to the members so that they would all type it from there. There is no initial planning. And even if there was, we would plan to set a meeting but all the members aren’t there. Since the group is incomplete, there is no proper discussion and all. In the FB Group/GoogleDoc, just post what you have and you’re done. That is how I mostly experience in group works in DLSU. The problem with this type of group work is that it invites cramming. It’s like you are welcoming cramming into your doorstep and hug it when it arrives. Now here’s the thing.. The group work would be given like 3 weeks to a month or even like 2 months in advance… When it’s 2 weeks or like a week before the deadline, that is when all hell/rage/feels/cries are out. Most of the members would be really active when the deadline for the requirement is near… VERY NEAR. All can feel the pressure and the stress. The annoying part is that some of them would start asking what they should do because they didn’t try to bother to read the initial posts that the other group members made. And since it is near the deadline, everyone would pull an all-nighter and rush everything trying to squeeze information as much as they can. There are also other group members who would help at first then just fade into thin air. Well to sum it all up, CRAMMING. In my opinion, most of the DLSU students love to cram. I won't exclude myself on that. I mostly cram about the things I need to submit and study when I was in DLSU.
Soka students, in the contrary, plans in advance. From what I observed, they meet face-to-face; They discuss things about the group activity; delegate tasks; do the assigned tasks; then meet again. They meet again! It's not a one meeting thing! From what I think, doing this makes the group activity easier. I think they love it when everything goes smoothly and I guess cramming as much as DLSU students cram isn't a thing for them. I’m not saying Soka students don’t cram. Of course, some would cram. But they don’t cram as much as DLSU students do I think. Soka students cram for homeworks, studying for a test, and other stuff… But I never heard of a case where they crammed a group activity. They really planned it all out and s much as possible do it as smoothly as possible. They don’t do rush outputs or the pwede na yan outputs. I just find it really fascinating that everything is just planned out and executed carefully.
I'm not saying any negative things about DLSU but I hope that DLSU students would value face-to-face meeting more because I think it makes a group activity run smooth because you plan everything in advance. Not like the usual DLSU thing, where most students just post stuff in the group and when it is near the deadline, most of the group members would be active and cram. Having face-to-face meetings will have more meaningful discussion and create an excellent work output in my opinion… Not only will it be able to have a better or even excellent output, it can also create more deeper relationships too. When I go back to DLSU and start having group activities, I would strongly suggest to have more face-to-face meetings rather than online ones. Being too busy isn’t the problem… Time management is what most students are having. They do not have proper time management so they tend to cram more. Well that is what I think… Based from my experience in DLSU, I can say it’s true for me and I’m sure that it is also true for some people…
Summing up this long post of mine, here is what I want to say:
1. It’s better to have face-to-face meetings in group activities. It makes everything go smoothly and it can create a great output.
2. Fix your time management stuff. I know everyone has time for everything but they just do not know how to manage it.
3. Do not cram especially in group works because it affects the quality of the final output and it also affects the other members too.
That’s it. Haha. Thanks.