Experiences regarding the midterm

            “It’s that time again!” “To play bubbles with our spit?” “No, to spin the Wheel of Morality. Wheel of Morality, turn, turn, turn. Tell us the lesson that we should learn. And the moral of today’s story is: ‘early to bed makes a man healthy, wealthy, but socially dead’.” ~Animaniacs

            Working on the midterm was definitely an experience. After hearing the professor talk about how it involved democracy and that we should have read all the readings, I had visions of an open book test involving discussing every single reading, in depth, with the option of picking one we would focus on. I saw myself sitting on a computer with pages around me while I hurriedly tried to figure out what went where and whether I had enough time to reread any of the articles. Open book tests usually mean you should know the material beforehand so you can reference it freely. Since I had not studied for the midterm, I worried that this might be the case.

            After discovering that the midterm was an outgrowth of another assignment, I first felt relieved. Then I realized, with the sheer enormity of the task, that there was no way one person could complete all of it. At least, it seemed unfeasible. I thought, however, if the class decided to do it individually, perhaps this meant that I would have to figure out a way to handle it. Again, I was relieved when I discovered we decided to do it as a class. This involved much less work.

            However, the midterm still seemed insurmountable. Having the entire class work on it is daunting, regardless of divided workload. After discussing this midterm with my father, he said that if an entire class worked on a midterm, it had better be a good one. My confidence wavered and I grew anxious. I had not given enough material to the midterm. I was not contributing my feedback. I let others do the work. Therefore, I had failed my part.

            I managed to muster support for performing certain parts of the midterm and having tasks delegated during class helped a lot. In the future, though, I believe such endeavours may be better suited for group work that builds into classwork. Yes, as a democracy, this demonstrated how each person could pull his or her weight (or not) and permitted each of us to use his or her own skills to the task. It still feels too much like a vast undertaking and I admit that I am humbled by the whole assignment. I also admit that after having completed an assignment like that, I am not eager for another one. Anxiety is not your friend.

            I wonder what this portends for the final project and whether students will choose to work in groups again rather than individually. For students who felt that the midterm experience was cumbersome or nerve wracking, they may decide to work by themselves. I suppose this is a “time will tell” measure. It should be interesting to see what my classmates come up with.

(from http://thepixelcat.tumblr.com/post/58813712192/and-some-night-vale-fanart-inspired-by-a-certain)