My First Learning Team Experience

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My First Learning Team Experience

My involvement in the Learning Team environment at the University has been a great learning experience. When we were assigned teams at the end of the first week, I did not really know what to expect. I have worked on teams numerous times in my career, both in the professional and private sectors. The teams I have worked on have always been to either produce a product or improve a process. Learning has always been a part of these teams, but I have never been on a team whose specific purpose was centered on learning.

The first task my learning team was confronted with was coming up with an effective method of communicating. "High-performing teams have extensive communication mechanisms. They communicate regularly with each other wither in person, via telephone, or through e-mail and keep those unable to attend meetings informed of the group's progress." (Teams in the Workplace, Pg. 317) We decided to use an Instant Messenger chat for its real time communication and message logging ability to allow us to keep those not able to make the chat informed.

Our first official task was to create a team Charter. One of the questions in this charter was to determine if the team would have a leader and if so, the term of that leader. "All groups need leadership. Without leadership, a group may be nothing more than a collection of individuals lacking the coordination and motivation to achieve a common goal." (Leadership in Groups, Pg.173) Instead of having one leader for the entire course, the team decided to rotate leaders at the beginning of every school week. I was selected by my peers to be the team leader during the first assignment. Being the team leader, I was not only responsible for ...

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...h he had given up. But then, seeing that both sticks could be put together to make one long stick (insightful experience), the Chimpanzee placed the small stick a little way inside of the larger one and was able to reach the banana and pull it toward himself.

There are many differences and similarities between each of these learning processes. For example, classical conditioning involves only involuntary or reflex responses where as operant conditioning involves both involuntary and voluntary reflexes. These different learning processes can be used independently in many different situations. Where Classical conditioning may be more effective in one situation it may be useless in another. For this reason each of these learning processes, Classical and operant conditioning, and observational and insight learning are each as important and effective as the other.

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