Complexity Explorer Santa Few Institute

My most intense experience with collaboration was during my Data Structures course, when I spent upwards of ten hours every week working on assignments with my programming partner. Though I was skeptical at first, I quickly realized that working with someone else makes big tasks feel more achievable. Every 30 minutes, we would trade “driving” (typing) and “navigating” (thinking about the problem at a higher level). By switching roles, we allowed our
different strengths to develop, and were able to approach problems more successfully by simultaneously paying attention to syntax and big-picture algorithms. Ultimately, I realized that collaboration is most fruitful when participants are encouraged to take on different roles. Another important collaborative experience I have engaged in is tutoring; since my freshman year of high school, I have worked as a peer tutor for a variety of math, chemistry, and computer science courses. Most of the time, students are working on problems I have not seen before, so we work towards a solution together. Good tutoring is simply collaboration. One of the most helpful techniques for both tutoring and collaboration is asking questions. Most importantly, I have learned not to take too seriously the institutional distinction between tutor and tutee; the best tutoring sessions are when I also learn something. It is essential to enter collaboration with professors or graduate students with the expectation that both parties will learn from each other.