Sebastian Roman

 The SP1017 class has been in group mode for the last three weeks, and each group got assigned a chapter to explore. Group 1 got their hands on Chapter 3, which delves into the topic of "Intercultural Communication." I found Group 1's PowerPoint presentation quite interesting. They started by discussing basic ideas about culture and how civilizations differ. According to their presentation, culture is about shared values, attitudes, beliefs, and customs that define proper behavior for a specific group of people. Values are the generally agreed-upon criteria for what's considered just or unjust, fair or unfair, good or evil. It can be unsettling when our usual ways of doing things are disrupted because we're so used to them. Going into a foreign culture, whether through travel, business, or studying abroad, often leads to experiencing full-blown culture shock. I also checked out Group 3's PowerPoint presentation, and their slides were visually appealing with neat templates, clear summaries, and interesting images. I stayed engaged, watching and listening to their presentation in class.

Group 2 got Chapter 9, all about "Communicating in Groups." This chapter is super important in our class because we have to work together and talk to each other. The students in Group 2 talked about how groups work and the best ways to talk and get along in them. They started by explaining what groups are like and the common problems we might face when talking to people in groups. Then, they talked about how groups start, grow, and what makes a group healthy. A group is just a bunch of people, around three to twenty, working together for a common goal and feeling like they belong. How good or bad a group feels depends on how well everyone talks to each other using both words and body language. People are different, and they come from various places, which, in my opinion, adds an extra layer to working together. So, it's important to be mindful of how you come across when working with others, especially those with strong personalities. The chapter ends with some good ideas on how to handle problems if they come up in a group.

Finally, we looked at Chapter 10, which is about "Group Leadership and Problem Solving." In this chapter, we learned how to lead a group and solve problems together. Although it might seem a bit tricky, doing the research for the presentation and collecting the facts wasn't as hard as it seemed. This chapter is like a guide on how to be a good leader in a group and how to work together to solve problems. We began by discussing what it takes to be a successful group leader and what each person in the group needs to do to make it work. Then, we explained how good communication and shared leadership happen before, during, and after group sessions. After that, we focused on problem-solving and walked you through a step-by-step approach to dealing with problems. It was definitely a learning experience, not just in understanding the information from the text but also in creating the PowerPoint. I learned a bunch of useful things that I can use in the future when I have to work with others on group projects. To finish, we shared some tips on how to talk about our results and evaluate how well our team did.