Although collaborative work is promoted as a way to practice real-world teamwork, these assignments, more often than not, fail to do so

I have never been a huge fan of group work, especially when I was randomly assigned members to work with. I'm sure many students also feel the same about group assessments. Although unpleasant, they were more manageable in high school as if need be, we as individuals had the time to carry an entire assignment and avoid facing the consequences of working with others who may not meet the work ethic of others.

However, in university, there is truly no time to carry out an entire project without it impacting your performance in other courses. In university, group projects are intended to be completed through collaboration between students because they are often weighted heavily and are too large to manage on your own. Group projects are also typically high-stakes assessments, which forces students to rely on their peers even when the quality of work produced can be a hit or miss.

The most common reason behind implementing group projects to a high degree within university courses is that it prepares us for collaborative efforts in the workforce. Although the reasoning behind this may have good intentions, the execution of group work is done poorly.

I will admit that some courses have a better way of implementing group projects than others but they all have their flaws. As a result, group projects in university fail to provide an accurate representation of what collaboration looks like in the workforce, defeating the purpose of group work altogether.

For example, you may be putting in a certain level of effort compared to your groupmates because you're working toward a particular goal. However, because their goals for the project don't match yours, you could find yourself doing more work to achieve this goal.

You may also start completing the work earlier on to seek feedback for improvement and often find yourself prompting your groupmates to contribute their fair share. It can be very tricky to navigate this in an academic setting.

Within the workforce, collaboration seems to be much easier as there is more to risk when not contributing your fair share. For example, you may have meetings with human resources, miss the deadline, causing repercussions for the company, lose privileges and in extreme cases, get fired from your job.

Collaboration in the workforce puts forth real consequences aside from the poor grade you might assigned in university; you can even lose potential references for future jobs. However, the challenges of working toward a common goal are lessened in the workforce because everyone has signed up for the same job and is working to accomplish the same goal.

Unfortunately, this is not the case with group projects at university. Many individuals have varying goals and work ethics which make it difficult to create harmony and success. Everyone working at their own pace to achieve their unique goals can be especially difficult when you aren't familiar with your other members and don't have adequate ways to contact them, which is not something that happens in the workplace.

The aim of group work in university is well intended, but the execution of it in courses requires rethinking. We need to find new ways to truly mirror collaboration in the workforce, without hurting student grades in the process.

Perhaps individuals should always be able to choose their groupmates as individuals are more likely to work with others who share similar goals and work ethics. These shared similarities also exist in the workplace, as you often work with co-workers you know on a project.

Another modification could be to have the project adjusted based on the peer evaluations students anonymously provide each other. This method may not be implemented in the workplace. However, the credit for doing a certain aspect of the collaborative work, especially when helping others, usually does not go unnoticed.

Overall, the current framework of group projects is not reflective of collaboration in the real world, causing frustration and an unequal division of work. Instructors need to rethink current group project assessment methods to better prepare students for the real world.

Photo C/O @vinestmarket

When partners and food and beverage producers Ryan Chelak and Jules Lieff went looking for a production space, they came across a building at 98 Vine Street. While the space was larger than they required for their businesses, they decided to take it. Now they are sharing the extra space with Hamilton makers with their first Vine Street Makers’ Market set to take place on March 30.

The two-storey red-brick building was once the home of Hamilton Pure Dairy, which opened in 1907 to provide healthy, safe and pure milk to the community. It has been home to other businesses over the year and now houses Vibe Kombucha and FitOrganiX.

Chelak is the founder of Vibe Kombucha, a craft brewer of raw, organic kombucha tea. Lieff founded FitOrganiX, a daily meal delivery system that uses local, organic ingredients. They will be using the second floor of the building for production.

The main floor will be open to the community as studio and event space. While Chelak and Lieff are still determining exactly how they will use the space, they know they want it to cater to creatives in Hamilton.

“In talking to a number of artists in the community, in Hamilton, there seems to be a need, particularly where we are downtown, for creative space. All of the workshop, event spaces, they're all pricing a lot of these people out of the market,” Chelak explained.

The desire for space can be seen in how the market sold out of vendor space within a day and a half. By providing space at an accessible price point, Vine Street Market is allowing emerging makers the chance to bring their product to the public.

The markets are currently slated to be monthly, but Chelak said that they may change depending on the demand. Starting in May, they will also host a bimonthly thrifted, vintage market.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu42tl9h5S4/

However, the main floor will be more than just market space. At the back of the main floor, there will be collaborative work space for artists to work out of. This would also allow artists to have wall space in order to display their work for clients.

Vibe Kombucha and FitOrganiX will also be selling their products at 98 Vine Street. Chelak and Lieff hope to have a cafe counter where people can buy their products, along with food and beverages from other local producers.

Another important use for the space will be the workshops that makers can host. Having gotten into kombucha by giving workshops, Chelak appreciates the opportunity to share skills with others.

“You know sharing that knowledge is really what community is all about, whether it's making something to eat or drink or making… music or arts. People need outlets like that, maybe now more than ever when everything is fast-paced and we're so immersed in technology and our work… [T]hat time to create it is important,” Chelak said.

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The market will provide an opportunity for Hamiltonians to interact with and buy from local makers. While there is no restriction on where the makers hail from, the market will primarily host local creatives.

Chelak believes that the local creatives are leaders in Hamilton’s resurgence. However, more than helping to grow the city, Hamilton artists are also providing a welcoming and collaborative space for emerging artists to develop.

“Hamilton seems to be, from my perspective…, a city that is collaboration over competition… And I think when you have that mindset where you're looking to promote each other and/or share information or opportunities… then people are more apt to do the same back in return and the adage that when you first give and then you'll receive, it's really what it's all about,” Chelak said.

By creating an environment where artists can work together, Vine Street Market is joining the tradition of collaboration within Hamilton’s artistic community. Having this new space for makers to make and sell their art will allow more individuals with small businesses to flourish in this rapidly changing city. In turn, Vine Street Market will grow as well.

 

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Photo C/O Celine Pinget

What is the value of an apology? That is one of the questions that JUNO-nominated singer and songwriter Khari Wendell McClelland is exploring in his new concert, We Now Recognize. The show, which consists of all new songs, will tour six Canadian cities for Black History Month. It comes to the Lincoln Alexander Centre in Hamilton on Feb. 19 at 8 p.m.

We Now Recognize is a partnership between McClelland and Project Humanity, a non-profit organization that uses the arts to raise social awareness. The two collaborated in 2017 and 2018 to create the documentary theatre musical of the Vancouver-based artist’s debut solo album, Freedom Singer. Freedom Singer interpreted songs that might have accompanied McClelland’s great-great-great-grandmother Kizzy as she escaped from slavery via the Underground Railroad.

This show is another personal work, although McClelland originally took inspiration from the current sociopolitical landscape. The number of political apologies that have occurred struck him in the past decade or so and especially in Justin Trudeau’s term. He began to question what constitutes a substantive and meaningful apology.

In writing the show, McClelland found himself reflecting on being wrong and the extent of his compassion for those who do wrong. He considered how recognizing wrongdoing feels and how to move forward from it. With this, he also thought about the relationships he has with the generations of men in his family.

“[I was] looking at my grandfather and my father and my brother and even considering what it would be to be… a father and what the implications might mean for a larger society… [I]t's men who are exerting power and have a lot of control in society… What are some of the ideas… I grew up with that I have at different times perpetuated in my own life and trying to figure out like what that might look like through a generational lens,” said McClelland.

The show explores other ideas that McClelland cares about, such as community and the way we wield power over the natural world. In bringing different ideas in proximity with one another, McClelland sees the work as an assemblage like a quilt or collage.

McClelland sees being able to explore a multitude of ideas as a way of celebrating Black life. Unlike his past work with Freedom Singer, which tackled the history of slavery head on, We Now Recognize, is a subtler approach to Black history that it more rooted in the present and in the future.

I feel like there are ways in which black life can be can be understood as a monolith, that black people in Black communities aren't allowed to have a diversity of experiences and perspectives. I'm very curious… about creating some kind of radical subjectivity around Black life, like being able to be all these different ways that we are just as human beings,” McClelland said.

Not only will the concert allow McClelland a chance to bring forth the multiplicity of Black life, it will allow him to stretch himself and grow as an artist. The personal show will force him to be vulnerable in a way that he hasn’t been before with the communities across Canada that has supported him.

McClelland sees the connection to music as something that erodes for many people over their lifetime. For him, however, it is something that he hasn’t stopped doing ever since it became a part of his life as a kid growing up in Detroit. It moves him in a way that isn’t necessarily positive or negative, but just is. He also sees the medium as essential to building community.

I feel like healthy communities move together. That they practice together, that they have rituals together… [O]ur connection to artful practices actually has the potential to heal us as communities and individuals coming together… has this real potential for a deep kind of healing… I think it is just a deep medicine in the way that we come together and make music and make art,” explained McClelland.

McClelland is looking forward to this tour to see how audiences connect with the new songs. He is eager to see the way in which people are moved by this meditation on wrongdoing and apology, whether positively or in a way that is a little uncomfortable.

 

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Photos by Catherine Goce

As the freezing cold wind twirled snow into the night air last Thursday, the inside of Centre[3] for Print and Media Arts was filled with warmth. Chai was brewing and connections were being made as members of the community gathered inside for the first Zine Club meeting.

The free club is the first of its kind at Centre[3] and is designed for zine creators, writers, artists and all others interested in the culture surrounding these DIY publications. The meetings are set for the second Thursday of every month.

The club coordinators are Centre[3] program coordinator Sonali Menezes and administrative coordinator Mariel Rutherford. They had no idea what kind of turnout to expect for this first meeting and were overwhelmed as people continuously trickled in from the cold, quickly filling up the prepared seats.

The idea for the club was sparked by a desire to create a space for Hamilton’s zine creators, who often call themselves “zinesters”, and welcome them to the facilities at Centre[3].

“[I]t really came out of trying to engage with a younger membership and trying to show people what we offer… [S]ometimes Center[3] as a printing house can be really intimidating to people who are younger so… we just want people to know that our doors are open,” Rutherford said.

However, it was not just a younger crowd that came through the doors on Jan. 10 but individuals of all ages. Nor were only zine creators interested. While some were zine artists like emerging artist-in-residence Laura K. Watson, others had never read a zine before or did not align themselves with an artistic form.

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The first meeting was structured to get everyone on the same page. After an introductory icebreaker, Menezes and Rutherford passed out various magazines. Together, the group made a list of themes present and feelings evoked. Flipping through, people repeatedly noted the presence of advertisements, advice championing success and models with “perfect” faces and bodies. People commented on how it made them feel broke and insecure.

Next Rutherford and Menezes handed out zines from Menezes’ personal library. The reactions were notably different as participants commented how the zines were diverse, inclusive, informative and funny.

The difference highlights what has drawn people to zines throughout its long history. Zines are traceable back to the science fiction fans of 1920s and 1930s. From the poets of the 1950s to punk movement members of the 1970s, individuals through the decades have been drawn to the idea of being able to share their own ideas in a DIY way.

It is also what has made Menezes and Rutherford zine creators themselves. Rutherford got started recently started making zines of her illustrations last year while Menezes has been making zines for the past seven years.

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“I got started in school… I just really caught on to zines and I just love making them. I love going to zine fairs and sharing zines with people and meeting zinesters. Zinesters are really nice people. Like the best way to make friends when you move to a city is to go to zine fair,” explained Menezes.

In the spirit of zine culture, the meeting was also very DIY. Rutherford and Menezes had participants create a list of what they wanted zine club to be. Ideas ranged from having question and answer, information and skill share sessions and workshops to hosting zine exchanges, hangouts and working on a collaborative zine.

When it finally came to creating at the end of the night, laughter echoed alongside the music playing in the background. The coordinators wanted participants to feel safe, creatively stimulated and supported while occupying the space.

“[W]e want to create… a space where people can find their niche. And like zines are very niche-y and they're very specific. Come find your niche! Like find the spot where you fit in... It's so nice connecting with other weirdos,” Menezes said.

Everyone created a page to be included in a collaborative zine. As neighbours shared glue, scissors and markers, they also shared their ideas and got to know one another. Each person brought their own talents to the page.

100 Word Copy: Centre[3] for Print and Media Arts hosted the first meeting of its first Zine Club on Jan. 10. With a turnout larger than expected, the monthly club will continue to meet on the second Thursday of each month. It is a space for zinesters and those curious about zines to gather, work together and hang out. Will you be checking out the Zine Club?

Photo by Kyle West

By: Monica Takahashi

Group projects are becoming an increasingly unavoidable element of university. Nowadays, it seems as though group work is included in every course. There has been also been a simultaneous rise in project-based programs, especially at McMaster University.

Different courses treat group work differently. Some require students to answer a difficult problem that should, in theory, be easier to solve through collaboration. Other courses assign projects with a heavy workload under the assumption that this workload can be managed effectively by a large group of students.

In both situations, the individuals that compose the group can make or break the project. In theory, group projects are great. They teach students how to collaborate with different people and allow them to strengthen their communication and teamwork skills. In practice, however, group projects can be incredibly stressful.

As a fourth-year student in the Integrated Science program, a project-based program, I have been working in groups for the better part of my degree. I have had both positive and negative group experiences but ultimately am against the current structure of group projects in universities.

Even if all the group members are competent and invested in the project, it can be difficult to divide the work evenly. This difficulty can increase significantly when one or more of the group members is not well-versed in the course content or simply does not care about the project. When the volume of work that each person is responsible for varies dependent on the varied levels of interest and ability, things can become problematic as students receive credit they do not deserve.

I have found that there are three main types of group members who consistently cause problems. First, there are those who lack basic communication skills. These individuals are the ones who never respond to messages in a timely manner. Coincidentally, these individuals seem to also always encounter a “big emergency” hours before the project is due. Asking for help is fine but there needs to be adequate forewarning and a valid reason.

Then there are the group members who actually want to help with the project but lack the abilities to do so. While I recognize their attempts to help, the burden to teach these individuals should not fall on other students. It is true that part of group work involves learning through teaching each other, but there is a difference between discussing advanced concepts and teaching someone the very basics of a course.

Finally, there are group members who simply fail to contribute towards the project at all. These are the most infuriating to deal with and unfortunately, the most prevalent. There should be greater measures in place to ensure that students are not given marks they don’t deserve due to someone else’s extra efforts.

Professors could have a better way of modulating group projects. As it stands, there should be some metric whereby students receive a grade proportional to the work they put into a project. While some professors have implemented a peer evaluation process, many courses still lack this completely.

The courses that do have this evaluation could still be greatly improved and better managed. It is not enough to reward students’ additional efforts at the end of the project as this still leads to students being unfairly overworked and over stressed. Instead, courses that have large group projects can also have mandatory check-in periods to ensure that all students are contributing.

Working in groups is an important part of many jobs and so it makes sense to implement group work at the university level. However, until group projects are restructured, their existence will continue to be at the disservice of hardworking students.

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