122/365 Feet in pool

122/365 Feet in pool, a photo by Darcy89 on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Didn't really have any time at all this day to take a planned and constructed photo... ***WARNING: RANT AHEAD***

Have I mentioned that I hate group assessments?And that I hate even more talking to your tutors about them?

How when you have an issue, say for example that the rest of your group has decided they don't have the time or inclination to help with the assessment until 12 hours before its due...

or when you one of your group members messages you to say "can you write the introduction and conclusion because I don't really understand anything other than my section"...

or when you have to re-write someones section because even though English is their first language the sentence construction is so terrible it is barely legible? (and you know its bad when I am noticing it)... and even if it was it is also just WRONG...

or when its a multi-media assessment (create a wiki page if that means anything to you) and your other group members don't bother to learn how to format/edit the page so you end up doing all the work?

AND you can't even bother telling your tutor about these issues because someone else from another group already has and you overheard the response which was "that is just one of the challenges of this assessment, in the 'real world' and as part of your 'graduate capabilities' you are expected to be able to work in groups. So everyone in a group gets the same mark and you will have to figure it out" Which basically translates to - "lucky them, they get a free ride" (and PS I also take issue with all this 'real world business' because in the REAL WORLD if someone isn't pulling their weight they generally face consequences, consequences of which I - as a hard working individual - do not bear the brunt)

You know those group assessments?!...

Yeah, well that is what I spent 17 out of the 23 hours of my Thursday completing (which does not include the Saturday and Sunday I spent completing my own component.


Phew, that feels better now. Thank-you for letting me rant. In all fairness there was a separate component in which we had to reflect on the experience of working in a group, and I was able to use this section to very diplomatically reflect on some of the above (Had I not been so diplomatic I am afraid I might have failed the 'group work' section... lol!). But its just not the same as saying it straight. You know?

Much love,
D.