SCHOOL RELATED POST #4 - Imagine what would have happened if one person disagreed.

I didn’t want to be late for this class, knowing that for some odd reason, it would be the most important class of the semester. When the professor said that we as a class were going to propose what should be done about this midterm as well as the next one, I was a little confused. Apparently the grades were really low, so this drew a bit of concern. I did not see how this class was so important, seeing as how we were going to spend an entire period just talking amongst ourselves about how we can get a higher grade, without much professor interference. After thinking about it for a while, I decided that since the midterm is a huge chunk of our grade, maybe by giving the hand in forming our own destiny, Professor Kurpis was right on target about this being the “most important class.” By thinking in this manner, I effectively missed the point.

After Professor Kurpis said that we as a class must decide for ourselves what we should do and that we must get one hundred percent agreement, he just sat back. Once he did that, I knew what we were in for. He was going to observe the class dynamic and most likely dissect what happened in the next class. He had a smug look on his face as everyone on the class was talking at once. He really seemed to enjoy watching us get nowhere. He smirked as we made absolutely no progress towards a proposal. We all talked in separate groups, and there were a lot of groups. I was not too disappointed with my grade, so a simple curve or drop the lowest grade proposal would have sat fine with me. I heard somebody mention a curve AND drop proposal, meshed together. That seemed too good to be true. However, as the class wore on, more things got added to the proposal, as the students had many different ideas. We were practically writing our next midterm, as well as invalidating the one we just had, if need be.

The class became quite chaotic, as does happen under pressure. We were given a time limit (the class period), and as time wore down, the students became increasingly agitated. Harsh words were exchanged and assertions were realized. I was content to sit back and enjoy the ride, as everybody had already agreed on a curve and drop, which was more than enough for me.

Some people in the class definitely used the “compete to win” approach in handling conflict. For example, one girl would not tolerate anything other than multiple multiple choice questions where the number of correct choices was stated. The class as a whole, however, had to use the “compromise” approach, as everyone had to be happy. If we did not reach one hundred percent consensus, we would have walked away with nothing. If I understand the “accommodation” approach correctly, then I used that approach in handling the decision conflict. I definitely was more apathetic than the rest of the class. The issue was much more important to everyone else, and I already got more than I wanted with a curve and drop, so I basically agreed with any other additions the proposal. Everybody in the class wanted to improve their grade, and any addition to the proposal could not possibly do any significant harm.

For a class this big, getting everybody to agree is going to be tough regardless of what we are voting for. I feel that a strict democracy would be the best way to handle the conflict we had. Our class was a democracy, in that everybody had an equal vote, but there was too much chaos. It would have been best if there was a rule that was enforced that only one person could speak at a time, and only for a limited amount of time. Realistically, I feel that would be the best solution for our scenario.

One thing I found particularly interesting was that a few times, a single individual would have the courage to rise up and disagree with the entire class. This rebellious behavior was quickly put down each time. I remember Professor Kurpis saying, while he was tallying up the votes, that there was nothing wrong with disagreeing with the proposal. I seriously contemplated doing just that, as a joke. It would have been quite humorous.

At the end of the class, Professor Kurpis said that during the next class, we would dissect everything that had just happened, confirming that the class we just had was indeed just a giant experiment. We basically studied group decision making firsthand.

- Kwok Tse