Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Collaborative Problem Solving

What are the positives and negatives to solving a problem collaboratively?

4 comments:

Ben said...

Some positives are;
1. It can save time
2. people have less to do
3. people can double check each others work
Some negatives are;
1. people argue about who does what
2. almost everyone thinks they know best
3. people are more lazy
4. some people do nothing

Anonymous said...

There are many positives and negatives to solving problems in a group. One positive is everybody has their own piece of the problem to solve, making the problem easier to solve. Another positive is everybody has their own idea how to solve the problem and the best way to solve the problem could be figured out easier. There are also some negatives to solving problems together. If you are put in a group where nobody except you wants to do any work, it'll take even longer to get solve the problem. Everybody argues over who gets to do what, some people want to solve this part of the problem and others want to solve another one. It's hard to get everybody to agree on who does what. It's also hard to solve a problem if some people work faster than you or if some people work slower than you. If someone works faster than you do, then you could feel rushed. If someone works slower than you, you could get impatient and rush them. That person gets angry because they don't like to be rushed and then a huge argument breaks out and nobody wants to work together anymore. That's why I think it's hard to solve problems in a group.

David said...

There are positives and negatives to solving a problem cooperativly. Some times if the group is working nicely with each other it can save time and minimize the work load on others. But sometimes people argue, or let others in the group do their work for them.

n anzalone said...

Ben, Mel, & David,
Is collaborative problem solving for you a more positive or negative experience? Why?

Personally, I like to work with a group to brain storm solution possibilities, then I like to work it out on my own and then return to the group to share out how each person solved the problem. I'm interested in how other people go about solving problems.