20.109 Fostered Teamwork

Beyond the writing and oral practice that 20.109 gave us, I believe we also learned a lot about teambuilding and teamwork through the class.  Throughout the whole class, everyone was paired up with another lab partner to do all the experiments.  This not only saved resources but also allowed everyone to bounce ideas and questions off each other.  Because we were allowed to leave class when we were done with our experiment, there was an incentive for everyone to work efficiently.  However more often than not, it seemed like Hannah and I were always the last ones or close to the last ones to leave…but looking back, it wasn’t as bad as being the last person to finish by yourself. 

I also believe that the mod3 mini-report was an assignment that fostered teamwork.  For the most part, the assignment was completed in class so we didn’t have the luxury of taking all the time we needed.  As such, Hannah and I split up certain sections of the mod3 report.  If we didn’t have two people working on the report, I don’t know if I would have been able to finish the report in time given the time constraint.

Lastly, I think that the final research proposal was the best teambuilding exercise.  The scope of the assignment was so grand that it would have been very difficult to have done by yourself.  With an assignment such as this, it was very important to be able to bounce ideas off of each other.  Hannah and I were able to split up the jobs well…Hannah worked on certain sections while I worked on others.  She also met with certain experts on certain aspects of the mechanical testing such as her pI, while I met with experts on the M13 phage such as Professor Belcher and Po-Yen, a graduate student in the Belcher Lab.  Practicing late at 2AM as also not as bad as having to practice at 2AM by yourself.  I think that the teamwork aspect of this assignment played a large part in making this assignment fun and enjoyable.

20.109 has been fun and frustrating at the same time, but I’m glad to have been able to work in a team throughout 20.109.  I’m glad Hannah and I were lab partners, because I think we made up a good team.

-Joseph Han