Course: BUS 100 – Academic Character and Skill Development Spring 2019

Homework (10%)

Course: BUS 100 – Academic Character and Skill Development Spring 2019

Group Members and ID:

1. Student’s name: _____________ ID number: _____________
2. Student’s name: _____________ ID number: _____________
3. Student’s name: _____________ ID number: _____________
4. Student’s name: _____________ ID number: _____________
5. Student’s name: _____________ ID number: _____________

Introduction:

The movie Spare Parts is an American film from 2015.

The story:

Four undocumented Mexican American students, two great teachers, one robot-building contest…and a major motion picture.

In 2004, four Latino teenagers arrived at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Robotics Competition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. They were born in Mexico but raised in Phoenix, Arizona, where they attended an underfunded public high school. No one had ever suggested to Oscar, Cristian, Luis, or Lorenzo that they might amount to much.

And build a robot they did. Their robot wasn’t pretty, especially compared to those of the competition. They were going up against some of the best collegiate engineers in the country, including a team from MIT backed by a $10,000 grant from ExxonMobil. The Phoenix teenagers had scraped together less than $1,000 and built their robot out of scavenged parts. This was never a level competition – and yet, against all odds… they won!

(taken and adapted from Wikipedia entry on this film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spare_Parts_(2015_film))

Instructions:

After watching the movie Spare Parts you will need to meet as a group to discuss the questions below. Then, using the relevant theory from your books together with your personal experience, answer the questions as fully as possible by referring to specific scenes from the movie. Each answer should be of minimum 200 words. You will have to answer a total of 5 questions and each member should be personally responsible for one of the answers. However, you will all need to approve, revise and edit the work together.

Please answer all questions from 1 – 4. Then answer 1 question from 5 and 6. (You should answer a total of 5 questions)

1. There are several instances in Spare Parts when the boys failed to fulfill their duties, such as when facing the difficulties building the robot, and when the meetings fell into chaos almost breaking up the group. Consider the benefits and drawbacks of discipline and incentives that their teacher used on them (Piscitelli Chapter 4).
2. Working on the robotics competition project has forced the students to prioritize in their personal and academic life. Explain how they set their priorities and what effect it had on their lives. (Piscitelli Chapter 3).
3. Discuss the communication among the boys in the robotics club based on Covey’s model.

Image result for stephen covey 7 habits levels of communication trust cooperation

1. How did the students’ accepting responsibilities lead to a success at the competition? How could the application of Covey’s Proactive Model prevent the problems?

Image result for stephen covey 7 habits proactive model

1. Rosalynn Carter said that, “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don‘t necessarily want to go, but ought to be”. If you were the students’ mentor, how would you use Covey’s Time Management Matrix to organize their group activities?

Image result for stephen covey 7 habits levels of communication

1. Considering Covey’s Force Field Analysis, discuss the way the restraining and driving forces operate inside the robotics section and how they affect the group dynamics among the students.

Image result for stephen covey 7 habits driving forces restraining forces

Assessment Criteria / GRADING RUBRIC (HOMEWORK)

Criteria

Very Good

15 – 20

Good

10 – 15

Satisfactory

6 – 9

Poor

2 – 5

Grade

Relevance of

answer to the

question

Answer is complete;

sufficient detail

provided to support

assertions; answer

focuses only on

issues related to the

question; factually

correct

Answer is brief with

insufficient detail.

Unrelated issues

were introduced

and/or minor errors

in content.

Answer is incomplete.

Excessive discussion of unrelated issues and/or

significant errors in content

The essay did not

answer the question

Thoroughness

of answer

Deals fully with the

entire question

Most of the basic

details are included

but some are missing

Serious gaps in the

basic details needed

None of the

relevant details

were included

Relevance of

Theory

All statements are accurate relative to the resource being examined and/or to the material in the textbook

Most statements are accurate relative to the resource being examined and/or to the material in the textbook

Few statements are accurate relative to the resource being examined and/or to the material in the textbook

None of the statements are accurate relative to the resource being examined and/or to the material in the textbook

Group

Dynamics and collaboration

All students had input and group organization shows outstanding effort

All students had input and group organization is adequate

All students had input but overall group organization of material is lacking

Majority of work is done by one of a few students; work may be incomplete

Mechanics

of writing (spelling,

punctuation,

grammar, clarity

of prose)

Clear, readable, prose. Very good use of transitions; no problems with

spelling, punctuation, or grammar

Clear, readable,

prose. Good use of

transitions; minor

problems with

spelling,

punctuation, or

grammar

Frequent problems with

mechanics of language;

Occasional awkward

sentences and poor

transitions; reduce

readability

Major problems

with mechanics of

language; Awkward

sentence construction;

Poor or absent

transitions; Frequently

difficult to understand

TOTAL:

NOTES

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