COM4013 BUSINESS SKILL AND LEARNING

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

Instructions:

1. This assignment should include cover page and Plagiarism Statement for every assignment.
Please refer to Appendixes.

2. Plagiarism is defined as the submission or presentation of work, in any form, which is not
one’s own, without acknowledgement of the source. Plagiarism is considered an act of
academic fraudulence and an offence.

3. Assignment should exhibit references (Harvard Referencing) from the text book (at least
3), external references, and journals or published papers.

4. The assignment must be able to demonstrate critical analysis, application of both theory
and practical issues to the subject.

5. The assignment should have 250 - 300 (+/- 10%) words.

6. The assignment must be typed using 1.5 spacing and Times New Roman font size of 12
point.

7. The deadline for this assignment is during tutorial class on 14/11/2017. Assignments not
handed up by the time and date will not be graded.

8. This assignment will contribute 15% to the assessment of coursework.

COURSE : COM4013 BUSINESS SKILL AND LEARNING

PROGRAMME : DIPLOMA IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

GROUP MEMBERS’ DETAIL :

NAME I.D. NUMBER SIGNATURE

KEVIN LIM YU LUN 1 2016S3-1540DIT

Comments:

15
 APPENDIX 2: PLAGIARISM STATEMENT

Plagiarism Statement

Read, complete and sign this statement to be submitted with your written work.

We confirm that the submitted work are all our own work and are in our own words

NAME I.D. NUMBER SIGNATURE

16.11.2017
DATE ……………….
Four students, Hal, Sue, Frank, and Bert are working together on a term project in a required

senior-level chemical engineering class. The project will be worth 25% of the final grade, and lasts
for the duration of the semester. Each of the students comes to the class with their own individual
personalities and set of life experiences.

Hal likes learning, likes school, is outgoing, and is planning to go to graduate school after
graduation. He’s the kind of guy you love to hate; he’s got high grades, is popular, and everything
seems easy for him. Hal is definitely on the fast-track to great things. His expenses are paid by a
full-ride academic scholarship, so he doesn’t need to work at a job while in school. His GPA is
3.9.

Sue is very active on campus, and likes to participate in as many organizations as possible.

Sometimes she’s stretched pretty thin, and her classes aren’t always her top priority. Her parents
are paying most of her school expenses, but she is working about 10 hours per week for pocket
money. She’s an excellent organizer and manager, and always gets her homework done. After
graduation, she plans to get a job in industry, where she hopes eventually to get a managerial
position. Her GPA is 3.0.

Frank is an average student He’s very bright, but his interests are often outside the classroom.
Skiing, hiking, Frisbee, and church activities hold more interest for him than studying. He usually
manages to get his homework done, often just before class, and somehow manages to do pretty
well on exams. Frank’s education is being paid for by loans and work-study. He hasn’t yet thought
too much about what he wants to do after graduation, but he’s sure he’ll take a few months in
Europe before getting serious about looking for a job. His GPA is 2.8.

Bert is in a different category altogether. He’s been in school a while, calls himself a slacker, and
claims to be interested primarily in partying. He rarely submits his homework and often misses
class. He is currently enrolled in the design class in question for the second time, after failing the
first time. Bert’s parents paid for the first 3 years of his education, but cut him off after his GPA
fell below 2.0. Currently he is surviving on loans, and works 20+ hours per week off campus. Bert
hasn’t yet considered what he plans to do after graduation, whenever that might be.

The setting is 3/4 of the way through the semester, and pressure is building. All 4 are busy with
classes, job hunting, work, and life in general. Their professor, Dr. Spock, has assigned way too
much work, as usual. Hal, Sue, and Frank are meeting in the computer lab:

Hal: Wow, that homework assignment due tomorrow really stumped me for a while. I was up until
2:30 this morning finishing it.

Sue: Oh please, I’m sure you got through it no problem. I started 4 days ago, but I keep getting
stuck on the liquid-liquid extraction. Frank, did you get that part?

Frank: Yeah, right! Thanks for reminding me. I’ll look at it tonight.

Sue: Well, it looks like Bert is flaking out again, and isn’t going to show. How much longer do
you want to wait for him?

Hal: That guy better start thinking about passing this class. Even with our help on the design
project, he’s looking at a D at most. He got a 23 on our last exam!

Frank: Ya’ know, I’m kind of getting sick of helping him out. I’ve put more time into this class
than I’d prefer, and I feel like we’re supporting a freeloader. It’s not like I don’t have anything
better to do than to do his share in our project, too.
Sue: I hear you. I’m having a pretty tough time, keeping up in all my classes. The work that he
did, was all wrong. I had to fix all the mass balances he came up with, and that was a week late!

Hal: The main thing is that we’ve got to get the project done. Frankly, his grade is his business.
My grade is my business. If my work helps him, that’s no sweat off my back. Eventually, maybe
he’ll learn something from the project. This project is fun. I don’t mind doing the extra work.

Sue: You’re way too generous, Hal. I’m with Frank. I’ve got plenty of things to do, other than
carry his load. I think he doesn’t deserve a good grade on the project if he hasn’t done any work
on it.

Question

1. You are required to brainstorm different strategies for coping with the “Bert” problem. List as
many possibilities as you can think of.

2. As a group, come to a consensus about the strategy. What recommendation would you make
to Dr. Spock about Bert? Keep in mind that successful teamwork is graded part of this design
project. Why that strategy is is your group’s selection?

3. Now, take the position of Dr. Spock. In addition to teaching chemical engineering, she is also
trying to instil in her students some elements of teamwork. She knows that all groups
everywhere have a Bert, to some extent. Her opinion is that you’ve got to deal with the
circumstances, such as they are; changing the circumstances isn’t always possible. How should
she react to this problem?
ANSWER

QUESTION 1

There are different strategies that can use to help with “Bert” problem. Hal is very good
in his academic and everything seem easy to him even every assignment he did he got no
problem with it. Hal will probably done his assignment in a short time so after that, he can help
Bert doing his assignment by giving him idea and ways to do the assignment. Sue is well in
organizing and managing things. She can give a hand in helping Bert to sort his time well so Bert
can done his work on time. Frank is the kind of person who got many interest outside the
classroom so he probably can be a good person to brainstorm Bert because Bert waste to much of
time in others activity which is not healthy to his life. Frank can explain to Bert if he did not put
effort in his programme he is wasting his money that he earn. Frank should suggest Bert to
participate more outsider activity like hiking, church activity rather than going to the party
because that is free to participate and it is more healthy. All of this strategies is good for Bert but
it is more important that himself need to accept and start to change because he should consider
for his team members.
QUESTION 2

All of them should come with a discussion whether should they let their lecture know
about the situation. They still have many problem with Bert after they give different solution to
him. They had rearrange many time for meeting to match with the time that Bert requested but he
keep absent. They also help him to correct the assignment he did because there are too many
mistake. For them, Bert was a burden in the group. Hal said that he is fine to do extra works
because he just want to make sure the work done but Frank and Sue did not want to do extra
work for Bert because they got their own work to do. What they can do is they should tell Dr.
Spock about the situation of their group and at the same time make sure the group project can
hand up before the deadline. They should tell Dr. Spock that the group project is nearly done by
three of them expect Bert so that when Dr. Spock mark the group project he know how to give
mark depend on the degree cooperation of the members. They should let Dr. Spock know that
they had carry the group project together with the team and the only problem is Bert was the one
who did not cooperate with the team. This is important to let Dr. Spock know because the
successful teamwork is graded part of the design project.

QUESTION 3

Dr. Spock must take responsible to get four of them to a group meeting and make sure all
of them will attend because it is very important to solve a problem in a face-to-face conversation.
Dr. Spock should let them know the teamwork spirit is very important in a group work. Dr.
Spock should advice Bert and take him back to the right path by brainstorming him. They are
three different type of student in Bert group and that was a good opportunity for him to learn. Dr.
Spock should explain why he choose these three student to group with Bert. Hal is a
hardworking and he got high grades and he did not mind to help Bert in his part of works. Sue
know how to plan, adjust and manage the group work and the period of time for the team. She
can make sure the project go smoothly and done before the deadline. Frank, an average student
but very bright. He know what activity gain positive to him and he will make sure his work done
on time. Dr. Spock arrange them to team with Bert because he wanted them to inspire Bert.
Unfortunately, four of them cannot figure out Dr. Spock purpose so he should explain it all to
them during the meeting.