[MUSIC] We do a lot of group work in physics and that's an important skill on several levels. Part of it is just the ability to work with other people. But there's also the point that participating in a group is the best way of learning. It's very easy if you have three or four people solving a problem. To be the one who just sits back and let's other people think about it. And maybe you'll be taking notes and thinking that you're learning. But it's not the same as jumping right in and saying why don't we try this? Or what happens if we do that? Yes, you'll be wrong sometimes but being wrong and learning from your mistakes. Particularly in the company of your peers and other people who are learning the same time. Again, it's a very good skill to have, to be able to participate in the formation of knowledge which is part of what we are trying to teach you. [MUSIC] >> So in the business field, not of actual practice when you go and work happens in groups, right? In teams. And that's one of the skills we tried to developed within the university setup. So many of the marketing subjects for example, have group work where you have to solve the problem. And one of the interesting kind of anecdotal evidence that I have about group work or what makes particular groups better than others. What I found was groups that had diverse cultures seem to perform better in coming up with the solution. Only because they had to defend their position against a position that may be far away from themselves. So by defending the position, they got to know the theory and we're able to translate the theory into practice. So what I would really challenge you to do is don't be shy of making friends and also group work with people from different countries. [MUSIC] So again, I would suggest that having diverse opinions and debating is a friend. Because at the end of the day, you're trying to come up with the best and most effective solution to your problem. And I believe debate allows you to communicate very diverse views and sometimes totally opposing views. So therefore, you get a very broad understanding of all the potential solutions. And at the same time, you're able to solidify your own argument. So therefore, it's really critical that you allow for debate and do not see debate as a constraint. [MUSIC] >> I encourage this in my classes, not all lectures do. But often I tell the students you must discuss outside of the class, you need to do things in pairs. For example in my class is one of the main questions is about grammar, they need to know English grammar. Now the international students often know English grammar perfectly. The background Australian language speakers often know how to use the language but don't know what a verb is. And so I usually get them together and say go and have a coffee, talk about this assignment. Work it out together, do it in groups. In other subjects, it's really important. And I give my students, I give them often skills on how to meet up with other people. I say when you go into a lecture, look at someone you'd like to talk to, go and sit next to them. Start chatting before the lecture, do you know what's happening? And then at the end of it, you just have to say something like that was really difficult. Look, I'm going for a coffee, would you like to come with me? It's the best place and way to break the ice and I noticed that once the students have made a friend or two or three. Then they start talking with them and discussing the issues. To me, it's through discussion with the others that they really get to understand. Because you know yourself, you can read an article and it's hard to remember it. If you can read an article, then talk to your dog, someone in the house, even if they don't understand it, you remember it. So it's that talking with other students that's so important. [MUSIC]
