There is no i in team, but there are two in scientist{24}
“There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team’, Dr. J.” At least one student offers me this comment every semester I teach in SCALE-UP. Most of the students, especially the athletes, are sincere, but often, there is a hint of sarcasm dished up with the mantra.
Teamwork. It’s one of the fundamental learning outcomes for this course. We draw upon loads of psychological and educational research to create the best possible opportunity for functional team experiences. Teams of three works best, or so I’m told. The tables must be exactly seven feet in diameter. Any smaller, the students will get crowded and crabby. Any larger, the distance across the table will feel too far for intimate discussion. Just give them one networked laptop. Then they will have to work together. The approach to teaching teamwork is all very scientific. I like that. I’m a scientist after all.
A scientist. “Scientists are team players”, I tell my students. “We have to be, especially in the 21st century where solving the ‘big’ problems in the world – related to hunger, water, disease, energy – will require multidisciplinary approaches.” Sounds great. But does the culture of science truly embrace teamwork? Do I?
What has me wondering and worrying about teamwork is this post by Maria Popova in her Brain Pickings blog. Popova reminds us what talents from Steve Wozniak to Stephen King have reminded us: that the creative process requires significant amounts of solitude.
I cannot argue with that view. My Myers-Briggs profile: INFJ, emphasis on the I. Like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi and Hitler. Notable people to be sure, but not exactly team players.
I cherish alone time – to think, to dream and to write. I run and cycle for hours at a time, bringing myself as remote as I dare, almost hoping to get lost, out of cell phone range and thus truly unreachable for a spell that never feels quite long enough. I’ll wake up at 5, 4:30 even 4 in the morning to catch the stillest of hours, when even my dog cannot be bothered to bother me. I love staying in hotel rooms in unfamiliar towns, where nobody knows my name, and still, I might hide in the bathroom to work.
I love my family, my colleagues, and people and dogs in general. And undoubtedly, my best ideas about cell biology, education and a host of other subjects were not developed in a vacuum. SCALE-UP, blogging, and Course Networking were not my inventions, although I hope that I can bring something original to their application. Like many scientists, I am fascinated by complex problems and understand that the solutions are beyond my grasp or that of any individual. I love learning from people whose domain knowledge exceeds mine on just about any topic from physics to art to poetry. And I love sharing my own expertise with anyone who truly cares. More than just about anything, I love synchronicity, which happens with far greater frequency when I spend time with diverse and interesting people.
But I also need time alone. Time for my neurons to arrange all the disparate puzzle pieces gathered from social, multi-disciplinary endeavors into a construction that has meaning and matters to me. Time to create something of value to share with my colleagues, my teammates. Ironically, blogging, a medium that could hardly be any more public, has become that opportunity for solitude and deep introspection.
So to my students: while I don’t apologize for making you work in teams, I do understand how difficult it can be. I’m happy to talk with you about this anytime. Just come to my office, up on the top floor of Derring, way down the hall, nestled all the way in the back, where it’s nice and quiet and you’ll likely find me all by myself.
13 Jun ’15 @ 7:33 am
Very well written story. It will be valuable to everyone who employess it, as well as myself. Keep up the good work – looking forward to more posts.
10 Nov ’19 @ 6:20 pm
astropay
16 Nov ’19 @ 6:57 am
paykwik dünya genelinde hızla gelişmekte olan bir güvenilir bir resmi firma olan alışveriş yöntemidir. Bu yöntem sayesinde hiçbir şekilde kişisel bilgilerinizi üçüncü taraf kişilerle paylaşmsdan, tamamen gizlilik içerisinde alışverişler yapabilecekssniz. Paykwik nın ortaya çıkış noktası da tam olarak bu internetteki güvenlik ve gizlilik zaafiyetlerine dayanmaktadır.
7 Mar ’21 @ 3:21 pm
Popova reminds us what talents from Steve Wozniak to Stephen King have reminded us: that the creative process requires significant amounts of solitude
29 Mar ’21 @ 5:16 am
Türkiye üzerinden giriş yapmak isteyenlesr gelen adsresler üzerinden safirbet güncel forma erişim sağlayabilir
24 Apr ’21 @ 12:36 pm
بازی های اتاق فرار برای موبایل تنوع بسیار زیادی داشته و می تواند تا حد مطلوبی شور و هیجان این بازی ها در دنیای واقعی را از طریق دنیای مجازی به فرد القا کند. در چند سال اخیر و با روی کار آمدن اسکیپ روم های متعدد، افراد زیادی وسوسه میشوند تا حداقل یک مرتبه این بازی های مهیج و ترسناک را تجربه کنند.
24 Jun ’21 @ 8:07 am
چیدمان و قفسه بندی انباری منزل
از اهمیت بالایی برخوردار است، زیرا با چیدمان درست میتوانیم از فضای انبار به طور بهینه استفاده نماییم و از همه مهم تر نظم خوبی به محیط انباری خانه خود ببخشیم.
1 Jul ’21 @ 9:53 am
I love my family, my colleagues, and people and dogs in general. And undoubtedly, my best ideas about cell biology, education and a host of other subjects were not developed in a vacuum.
1 Jul ’21 @ 9:55 am
تخلیه چاه و لوله بازکنی جوادیه از مهم ترین خدمات ارائه شده توسط تیم خدمات فنی تهران می باشد که با شیوه های کاملا بروز و استاندارد قابل انجام می باشد.
20 Nov ’21 @ 6:02 pm
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29 Nov ’21 @ 4:25 am
قیمت پکیج تزریق مواد شیمیایی بر اساس ایتم های مختلفی تعیین می شود که از مهم ترین آنها می توان به تعداد و ظرفیت مخازن اشاره داشت. علاوه براین، توان میکسر و برندی که برای آن مورد استفاده قرار میگیرد نیز تاثیر زیادی بر قیمت نهایی محصول خواهد داشت. از دیگر موارد مهم و تاثیرگذار بر قیمت، دستی یا اتوماتیک بودن تنظیم دوزینگ می باشد. خرید پکیج تزریق مواد شیمیایی
30 Jan ’22 @ 5:48 am
در روزهای بارانی زمستان که آب زیادی وارد چاه فاضلاب میشود، ممکن است بوی بسیار بد و زننده ای از توالت پخش شود. از اصلی ترین دلایل برای بروز این مشکل، پر شدن چاه های فاضلاب و بالا آمدن سطح فاضلاب می باشد. علاوه براین، رشد باکتری های مختلف و تجمع لایه هایی از مواد آلاینده در جداره لوله ها نیز می توانند دلیل دیگری برای بوی بد دستشویی در زمستان باشد.
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