The process and final product can be visited here: https://sites.google.com/mtholyoke.edu/cherry-idesignf24/home (Thanks to Cherry Hu – my amazing teammate)
The group dynamics play an important role in the success of the project and most importantly, the learning process and result of individuals. Sometimes I will get stuck to one idea and don’t know how to be flexible and move forward, she will give her perspectives and a way out. Some of the part I am really good at is coding but I have some problem to eject and transfer the code to the CPX, and she could do that amazingly.
Some ideas that we had were great like the temperature sensor or pressure is great but somehow hard to show in class and we need to plan whole new things. As a team, we gave so much ideas and trials and solution. And not be scared of when an idea not worked out as we have the others there to be flexible and come up with new cool things. I think we both pushed the cognitive flexibility of each other in a good way. I learned so much from her creativity and adaptation with new things and how to communicate and understand from her view point. All of these are made because of our smooth communication and good dynamics during work. I believed all of the videos prepared us the mindset of belonging, active listening, and cognitive shifting, which made us go this far from where we started.
Not only in class, but also during my research experience, I discovered that having multiple perspectives pushed the team forward so far ahead than an individual. As a researcher, sometimes the problem solving is not the most difficult phase but brainstorming ideas to solve is the most tough decision. As each person in a lab has different skillsets and background, they bring different viewpoint to construct a plan and help with reality check the project potentials, goals. Additionally, in the problem solving phase, especially with coding, I usually get stuck if looking at a problem for so long. Having someone with a fresh perspective or even just communicate my thought process with them leaves much more room for improvement and solutions that I could not figure out by myself.
There are surprisingly other multiple circumstances that cognitive flexibility offer me a solution for my problems. As a computer science major at Mount Holyoke College, I could not count how many times I got waitlisted to computer science courses. During those times, if I kept on sticking with those courses, it would be really easy to get lost as it is extremely hard to get accepted to register from waitlist. Fortunately, with the flexibility, I could seek for other courses that can satisfy my graduation criteria and give me opportunities to take other interesting courses outside of my major (Psychology, Music, Neuroscience, Philosophy). Those knowledge later came as really helpful tools for both my career and my self-development as a person. Like I used my Sleep Neurobiosis knowledge to develop a mobile application to help my mom sleep better.
Unfortunately, it was not always easy to give up an idea or a plan just like giving up courses that would not work for me. In my neuroscience lab, in the beginning, I felt so excited with everything new and spent days and nights with it. But even then, I never felt belonged to the lab. Among all students with major in neuroscience or double majors in neuroscience and computer science, I found it hard to connect with my lab mates and my project. But I ended up continuing to work for the lab in about 2 years. Eventually, I realized it actually was not working and I should have taken some actions earlier to find a place I belonged to. Even though at the end of the day, the place I ended up now was exactly what I needed, I wished I did that sooner and it would be more effective to come closer to my goal. If I were myself a few years ago, I would encourage her to take a step back and it was okay to let go of things that were not working. And belongingness should be a huge sign for what would stay eventually and what not. These are valuable lessons that will come with me so far later in my journey.