Accommodation: Though the issue of raising my test grade was important to me, I figured it was just as or more important to others in the group. So I listened actively, conversed amongst my neighbors and made a couple of comments. I thought about suggesting that we have a group leader, but someone jumped up to the front of the class and started directing the conversation and writing on the board. At this point it was clear that we as a class generally shared the same opinions and objectives, so I decided to sit back and observe rather than jump in. I also wasn't feeling particularly competitive after just coming from work and being generally exhausted.
Avoidance: As people started to debate and voices started to raise I withdrew. Again, I was tired, and the drama scene was getting a little over the top for me. I had faith that the group would come up with something that would make my grade better in some way, which was a good enough outcome for me... so I figured there was no real loss in letting them run with it. Annoyed, and generally bored by the commotion, I tuned out the conversation.
Compromise: When it was time to vote on our decision, I looked at the options the group had come up with and participated in the vote. We had very little time left, and I figured it was an opportunity to make some kind of positive contribution to the outcome, as well as voice my opinion without a tedious verbal debate.
Generally, from what we learned in class, I think the best way to have handled this would have been to assign small groups so that everyone would have a chance to Collaborate. It would have been good for me to suggest this to the class at the beginning if I had thought of it. Overall I, and I imagine many of my classmates who aren't the competing types in a large classroom, would have participated more. In turn, providing the class with more options that we were comfortable with in a shorter period of time. It may have even taken some of the annoyance factor out of the process.
