Professor Kurpis introduced to us our new topic of the week - Decision Making. He approached this topic by giving us a new activity on Monday (March 15th). Last week, our class took our first exam, and most of us were not satisfied with the grades we got. The task was simple: come up with a solution that will satisfy 100% of the class.
In this situation, I took a compromise approach. Everyone wants to reach the same goal, getting a higher grade and making the next exam easier for each of us to take.
In the beginning, the professor allowed us to make the decision as a class, and everyone must come to a 100% agreement, and we have until 7:05 PM to make the choices. Everything was given to us, but what held us back was agreeing with each other.
Everyone yelled suggestions across the room, but what really helped was that a student had volunteered to facilitate this decision making process. She really helped mediate the situation, and without her, we would have been arguing and yelling the whole time. there were a like of people who would compete to win, and many of those who are in the avoidance approach. One student in particular wanted to collaborate into groups, but the entire class disagreed with this idea. It was funny, because Prof K told us that this method was actually better at achieving a goal.
My part as a compromiser was that I believed everyone should be equal because we all need to make the same decision before handing it to the professor. I actually agreed with almost every suggestion listed on the board. The only thing that made me a little upset was that someone in the class did not believe in an open book exam. I agree that having an open book exam is time consuming and messy, but it would be great as a reference tool. You can always take the exam, then go back to check if your answers are correct. It would work if you're prepared, which you should be for every single one of your exams.
In the end, we decided to drop the lowest of the two test grades and double the highest and leave the format of the test to the discretion of the professor. This final decision doesn't seem so bad, and it benefits everyone, including Prof K.
I'm not a leader-type of person because I don't know how to take initiative. I am what you call a follower, because I like to learn before I do something. If I don't know how to do something, I'll only just wait until I do know. Therefore, the collaborating method is the best choice for me to interact in a group to make a decision.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Humpty Dumpty, not an eggs-cellent plan
Class project: plan a design to protect your egg from break after a 10-ft fall and execute the plan.
Professor K assigned us a task to make a plan on how we will be creating this design and building it so that the egg will be protected. Before beginning, we were told that the supplies were 8 straws and 2 feet of tape and the design must show at least 50% of the egg. Another challenge is that we were not allowed to touch the materials while planning so that our team will learn to organize an effective plan. The time limit for planning was 25 minutes long, and the building process was only 10minutes.
Step 1: Define your goals and objectives
My group definitely began with this step. We knew what we wanted to do and when our deadline was. What we needed to do was create a design that was effective in protecting the egg from breaking when we drop it on the floor. We knew we were given 25 minutes to continue working on our plan.
Step 2: Determine your resources and current status vis-à-vis objectives
We understood our supplies were limited to only 8 straws and 2 feet of tape, and the rule is to make sure that the egg is at least 50% visible. Most of us spoke about our ideas, whereas some we're just going along with whoever was speaking. Something that held us back was that a few of our group members strongly believed their design was better and they refused to see that the other ideas might work or that it might be better to incorporate all the ideas.
Step 3: Develop several alternative strategies
One idea was to was the straws all around the egg so it would cushion the fall. Another idea was to make the straws stick out of the egg so it would look like the egg is going to run away on many legs. Another idea is to create some sort of basket for the egg to fall into. All these ideas a fun and crazy, but would they work? The first idea might work. The second idea would not work because the straws are too flexible and would bend right when it hits the floor. The third idea would have worked if we had more time to create the fort.
Step 4: Make a tactical plan.
The plan that most of us decided on was the to go through with the first idea. Our flaw was that we didn't elect a leader, and everyone argued our way through the design. This step was halfway done.
Step 5: Implement the plan and evaluate results
Our group was very good at contributing ideas and building the egg contraption, but our organization was messy. We had a few designs in mind and we decided to confirm one of the designs when we get the materials. If I could, I would definitely redo this task with all the planning steps.
Mostly we failed during the 10 minutes. We had a hard time getting the quiet group members to contribute. They had to be told what to do, while the ones with the ideas wanted to go forth with his or her own plan. We went through with every step in the planning process, but it was very sloppy. We are suppose to be a team of one, and that was what we should have expressed in the beginning of the planning phase.
Overall, I had a fun experience :)
Professor K assigned us a task to make a plan on how we will be creating this design and building it so that the egg will be protected. Before beginning, we were told that the supplies were 8 straws and 2 feet of tape and the design must show at least 50% of the egg. Another challenge is that we were not allowed to touch the materials while planning so that our team will learn to organize an effective plan. The time limit for planning was 25 minutes long, and the building process was only 10minutes.
Step 1: Define your goals and objectives
My group definitely began with this step. We knew what we wanted to do and when our deadline was. What we needed to do was create a design that was effective in protecting the egg from breaking when we drop it on the floor. We knew we were given 25 minutes to continue working on our plan.
Step 2: Determine your resources and current status vis-à-vis objectives
We understood our supplies were limited to only 8 straws and 2 feet of tape, and the rule is to make sure that the egg is at least 50% visible. Most of us spoke about our ideas, whereas some we're just going along with whoever was speaking. Something that held us back was that a few of our group members strongly believed their design was better and they refused to see that the other ideas might work or that it might be better to incorporate all the ideas.
Step 3: Develop several alternative strategies
One idea was to was the straws all around the egg so it would cushion the fall. Another idea was to make the straws stick out of the egg so it would look like the egg is going to run away on many legs. Another idea is to create some sort of basket for the egg to fall into. All these ideas a fun and crazy, but would they work? The first idea might work. The second idea would not work because the straws are too flexible and would bend right when it hits the floor. The third idea would have worked if we had more time to create the fort.
Step 4: Make a tactical plan.
The plan that most of us decided on was the to go through with the first idea. Our flaw was that we didn't elect a leader, and everyone argued our way through the design. This step was halfway done.
Step 5: Implement the plan and evaluate results
Our group was very good at contributing ideas and building the egg contraption, but our organization was messy. We had a few designs in mind and we decided to confirm one of the designs when we get the materials. If I could, I would definitely redo this task with all the planning steps.
Mostly we failed during the 10 minutes. We had a hard time getting the quiet group members to contribute. They had to be told what to do, while the ones with the ideas wanted to go forth with his or her own plan. We went through with every step in the planning process, but it was very sloppy. We are suppose to be a team of one, and that was what we should have expressed in the beginning of the planning phase.
Overall, I had a fun experience :)
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Isla del Encanto
This past August I went on vacation to Puerto Rico with some of the girls in my sorority. Before setting my foot into the beautiful island, I had plans on eating a lot of food that we don't usually eat in America. The main thing that I go for when I travel is the food. When I arrived there, we went to a Walmart to buy some stuff to stock up for the villa. We bought a ton of Ramen and spam and eggs. I guess it's an Asian American thing to save up on money and buying easy instant noodles while on vacation.
The first thing we found aside from the Ramen was a KFC and then a McDonald's and then a Wendy's. Mind you, this is 4PM and we don't see a single local food place opened. I watch a lot of the travel channel, and anywhere that Andrew Zimmern or Anthony Bourdain went to was impossible to find. I guess what I find normal is seeing a variety of different restaurants on almost every block I walk around in New York City. Also those fast food joints was not any cheaper than stocking up on the ramen. The only "local" food place we found was a small bar called Charlie's Tacos. The tacos there were amazing. It was a soft tortilla shell stuffed with chicken, pork, or beef with mashed potatoes. I had it almost every day of the week that we were there for.Another thing about PR was that I figured everywhere would be walkable distance. It turns out that we had to road trip everywhere for about 2 hours.
One night we went out to Old San Juan, but it was no different than being in Times Square. The only thing different was that the names were in Spanish, like Senor Frogs. Party life was exactly the same as NYC. We somehow came across an Asian Fusion restaurant/lounge, and I felt like I wasn't even in PR at all. I am native born, but my background is Chinese. Going to PR with 10 other Asian girls and 2 Asian guys made us stand out as a group. I guess maybe people in PR aren't use to seeing that many Asians in one place, but we were always gaped at like zoo animals. And all I heard was "las chinitas" or "los chinos". It was kind of uncomfortable. America is so diverse that running across someone who doesn't share the same ethnic background as you isn't such an unusual thing. But aside from the awkwardness of being stared at, everyone there was really friendly, particularly street vendors.
This lady who crafted
handmade leather bracelets was a really welcoming person, and she was really curious about where we're from and all that jazz. In the picture, the bracelets looked like this before the brown polish and the buttons were added on.
The amazing rainforest, El Yunque
The Bacardi Rum Factory
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Who is this Extraordinaire person?
First thing that comes to you mind: Who in the world calls herself an extraordinaire?! Is she really that gassed up in her head?
To begin, my name is Caren C. Obviously, I'm a student in Prof. K's MGT 3120 class. This marks my third year at Baruch. I'm a junior, and I'm 20. I earned my place at Baruch as a SEEK student. SEEK helps students with poor grades and in need of financial aid. Easily said, in high school, I was dumb and poor.
Since I'm in the SEEK program, I had to start my freshman year early. I began summer 2007 with a class and some math tutoring sessions. I had no idea that ANT1001 was a real class and I ended up beginning my real freshman year with a low GPA :(
As my freshman year progressed, I searched for what would interest me. What can I make my major become? What is there to do on campus to brighten up my time between classes?
In the beginning I hated sororities more than anything. I hated the fact that catty girls could be so fake and dramatic while calling each other Sisters. This particular sorority named Kappa Phi Lambda had rushed me prior to my freshman year, and it continued to rush me until the spring semester. If you don't know, "rush" is a process in which girls want to get to know the sorority and its members, and might potentially become a part of them. (learn more at http://baruch.kappaphilambda.org/)
That spring, I made my decision. After seeing and meeting most of the Sisters, I realized that my stereotype on them was entirely different. They actually do philanthropic activities and are on campus to spread cultural awareness - things the I enjoy doing. So I went through the process and became one of the Sisters.
I'm really not a witty person. The name I came up with for this blog, Extraordinaire, is really my sorority's Sister name (most of you know this as pledge name or nickname, etc). In other words, I really cannot come up with a clever enough name for my blog.
Ever since my freshman year, I knew I was going to major in business, particularly accounting. After interning at a firm, I found out... I really hate math. I was never good at it. You can ask me what is 9x9, and it'll take me a whole lifetime to remember that the answer is 81. Thank god for smart phones with built in calculators.
Now I'm sitting here, stuck figuring out what I want to make my future career. At the moment, my major is Business Communications with Graphics Communications Specialization. I deal with artwork, mainly on computers. Ironically enough, I repel technology. I visit the Sprint store on a weekly basis because my HTC Touch Pro feels a little anti-Caren. I swapped it in for a Samsung Intrepid recently, and I have no idea how to manage this phone. So this assignment is actually kind of amusing to me, being that I don't know how to work a lot of things on a computer. Blogger is so similar to Xanga, and I never knew how to work that. It took me forever to know how to write a post!
Aside from my life at Baruch, I really enjoy going out with a people for bubble tea, frozen yogurt, ice cream, and more. In fact, I really love dim sum, but I would never wake up on a Sunday morning for it. I like taking a lot of morning classes because I rely on my dad to wake me up. Not only that, I hitch a ride off him since he works midtown anyway.
I'm generally a very nice person, but I don't like taking crap from people. I'll give a person up to three before I snap. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a mean person either. I'm superstitious - I believe in karma, and what goes around, comes around - therefore I will never hurt you :)
More about me... hmm... I have a cat.
She is the most ferocious furball I have ever seen. Trust me, you don't want to meet her. I am accident-prone. I recently did a slip&slide down half a flight of stairs and now I have injuries on my back and arms. I spill things - I carry a Tide-to-go pen. I also tend to walk into doors or trip over air, so please don't laugh :(
I love watching the food network and the travel channel. Oh, I actually met Anthony
Bourdain once! I've attended Catholic school up until my junior year in high school. I don't believe in Valentine's Day because it's so commercial; but I wouldn't mind being lavished with gifts heheh. I'm a little OCD. I clean stains until I come to a realization that it will not go away. I absolutely despise germs. I have stage fright. One day, I will join PETA. My favorite book is The Giver. I can watch the Lion King over and over again without being sick of it. Im not talented, but I love kareoke. I love traveling, I'll go anywhere every chance I get. I'm easily distracted, and my attention span is the size of a teaspoon. I hate going on computers unless I really have to. I enjoy community service, really, I do.
I donate my time and my efforts in fundraising money for philanthropic causes, and my sorority helps bring me to these sort of events. So we will be having a bake sale some time next week. Be sure to stop by! It'll be on the second floor of the Vertical Campus building. See you all there!
To begin, my name is Caren C. Obviously, I'm a student in Prof. K's MGT 3120 class. This marks my third year at Baruch. I'm a junior, and I'm 20. I earned my place at Baruch as a SEEK student. SEEK helps students with poor grades and in need of financial aid. Easily said, in high school, I was dumb and poor.
Since I'm in the SEEK program, I had to start my freshman year early. I began summer 2007 with a class and some math tutoring sessions. I had no idea that ANT1001 was a real class and I ended up beginning my real freshman year with a low GPA :(
As my freshman year progressed, I searched for what would interest me. What can I make my major become? What is there to do on campus to brighten up my time between classes?
In the beginning I hated sororities more than anything. I hated the fact that catty girls could be so fake and dramatic while calling each other Sisters. This particular sorority named Kappa Phi Lambda had rushed me prior to my freshman year, and it continued to rush me until the spring semester. If you don't know, "rush" is a process in which girls want to get to know the sorority and its members, and might potentially become a part of them. (learn more at http://baruch.kappaphilambda.org/)
That spring, I made my decision. After seeing and meeting most of the Sisters, I realized that my stereotype on them was entirely different. They actually do philanthropic activities and are on campus to spread cultural awareness - things the I enjoy doing. So I went through the process and became one of the Sisters.
I'm really not a witty person. The name I came up with for this blog, Extraordinaire, is really my sorority's Sister name (most of you know this as pledge name or nickname, etc). In other words, I really cannot come up with a clever enough name for my blog.
Ever since my freshman year, I knew I was going to major in business, particularly accounting. After interning at a firm, I found out... I really hate math. I was never good at it. You can ask me what is 9x9, and it'll take me a whole lifetime to remember that the answer is 81. Thank god for smart phones with built in calculators.
Now I'm sitting here, stuck figuring out what I want to make my future career. At the moment, my major is Business Communications with Graphics Communications Specialization. I deal with artwork, mainly on computers. Ironically enough, I repel technology. I visit the Sprint store on a weekly basis because my HTC Touch Pro feels a little anti-Caren. I swapped it in for a Samsung Intrepid recently, and I have no idea how to manage this phone. So this assignment is actually kind of amusing to me, being that I don't know how to work a lot of things on a computer. Blogger is so similar to Xanga, and I never knew how to work that. It took me forever to know how to write a post!
Aside from my life at Baruch, I really enjoy going out with a people for bubble tea, frozen yogurt, ice cream, and more. In fact, I really love dim sum, but I would never wake up on a Sunday morning for it. I like taking a lot of morning classes because I rely on my dad to wake me up. Not only that, I hitch a ride off him since he works midtown anyway.
I'm generally a very nice person, but I don't like taking crap from people. I'll give a person up to three before I snap. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a mean person either. I'm superstitious - I believe in karma, and what goes around, comes around - therefore I will never hurt you :)
More about me... hmm... I have a cat.
She is the most ferocious furball I have ever seen. Trust me, you don't want to meet her. I am accident-prone. I recently did a slip&slide down half a flight of stairs and now I have injuries on my back and arms. I spill things - I carry a Tide-to-go pen. I also tend to walk into doors or trip over air, so please don't laugh :(I love watching the food network and the travel channel. Oh, I actually met Anthony
Bourdain once! I've attended Catholic school up until my junior year in high school. I don't believe in Valentine's Day because it's so commercial; but I wouldn't mind being lavished with gifts heheh. I'm a little OCD. I clean stains until I come to a realization that it will not go away. I absolutely despise germs. I have stage fright. One day, I will join PETA. My favorite book is The Giver. I can watch the Lion King over and over again without being sick of it. Im not talented, but I love kareoke. I love traveling, I'll go anywhere every chance I get. I'm easily distracted, and my attention span is the size of a teaspoon. I hate going on computers unless I really have to. I enjoy community service, really, I do.I donate my time and my efforts in fundraising money for philanthropic causes, and my sorority helps bring me to these sort of events. So we will be having a bake sale some time next week. Be sure to stop by! It'll be on the second floor of the Vertical Campus building. See you all there!
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