How To Communicate Problems

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Comments by faculty members and students showing different views on the comic strip and the topic in general

Dr. Claudia Krull

In student teams, I have witnessed this type of misunderstanding quite often, especially when the students come from different educational backgrounds. Some students voice their thoughts freely and thereby intimidate others who contribute less or not at all, due to a fear of making a mistake. This is a misconception, as the louder students might not always be right in what they are saying, despite their confidence ;)

In any team, the group effort and success should always be the first concern, and therefore everyone’s input and opinion is needed. It is necessary to create an atmosphere of trust by discussing problems and offering solutions, without making fun or belittling members of the team

Pascal Krenckel

From a supervisor's perspective: When students don’t ask or say anything, we assume everything is going fine.

Please keep in mind that your project is probably not our primary focus, and we therefore expect you to call it to our attention if you need anything from us. Don’t take this as us being disinterested, it is just that we expect initiative when you need help. We won’t constantly ask for your progress, as we consider that patronizing. Don’t be afraid to annoy us with questions, usually we are quite happy to explain stuff related to our research or teaching. After all, this is why many of us became researchers and teachers.

Darija Grisanova

As a student, working in a group with people you just met can be challenging, since you don’t know how others work and what previous experiences they had. Keeping in mind that these group projects are planned to be completed by several people, it is crucial to communicate your progress accurately. It is completely fine if you have problems or don’t understand the material, moreover it is almost guaranteed to happen. But if you are not proactively communicating your troubles, your team members are left assuming everything is going well. And eventually when the problems come out, it is possible that your team members are preoccupied by their own assignments, and don’t have time to help you.
At the end the complete group is left suffering, stuck with a mediocre grade through no direct fault of their own.