JOURNAL ASSIGNMENTS:

Length: Journals should be short--about the size of the writing box

you are posting in, not much longer.

Week 2:

Discuss your experiences with a change in role (from prospective to

new, or from new to full, full to marginal, or full to ex-member (pick

one--don't try to discuss all!) in some group you belong to or

belonged to in the past. See Forsyth pp. 110-115 if you aren't sure

what these terms refer to :)

Week 3:

Discuss your experiences with leadership (whether you are someone else

was a leader) in some group you belong to or belonged to in the past.

How does this experience connect to topics discussed in Forsyth Ch.

12?

Week 4:

Discuss how a group you belong or belonged to changed (or failed to

change) over time. Does the pattern fit the stage model described in

Forsyth p. 155? Or some alternate model described by Arrow in class

lecture?

Week 5:

Discuss an example of poor decision-making in a group you belong to or

belonged to in the past. Can you connect this bad decision making with

some of the problems discussed by Forsyth in Ch. 11?

Week 6:

Discuss an experience you had in which a group you were in dealt with

a conflict either (1) quite successfully or (2) very badly. If (1),

did the process match any of the conflict resolution patterns

described by Forsyth on pp. 257-263? If (2) did the process match any

of the patterns of confrontation and escalation described on pp.

251-257?

Week 7:

Discuss an experience in which a group you belong to or belonged to

performed very well. Why were N heads (or bodies) better than 1 in

this case? Identify the task type according to the categorization

presented by Forsyth on pp. 280-285. If the task doesn't fit any of

these types, propose a different category.

Week 8:

Either (1) compare your experience working in groups in different

cultures or (2) compare your experiences interacting in groups

face-to-face versus via computer-mediation [e-mail, Motet, bulletin

boards]. No need to connect this post with any of the readings.

Week 9:

Discuss an experience you had that showed some of the in-group /

out-group effects described in Forsyth Ch. 13.

Week 10:

Topic is open, provided you discuss something about some group you

were in, and connect it in some way to what you have learned in this

class. Might be something you learned via experience in your own 457

group (respect no flaming rule!).