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For reflection
- What problems do students bring to you when they are working on group projects?
- What instruction do you give students to help prevent these issues?
Incorporate Teaching on Team Processes into Your Course
“What we know… successful teamwork happens when instructors actively provide instruction on the skills and processes for working collaboratively” (Channon et al., 2017). What might teaching on team processes include?
- An initial instructional session on teams and teamwork
- Initial activities to help teams develop their roles and working procedures (team charters and team contracts)
- Scaffolded assignment guidelines that include the process steps to be achieved, and how teams can work together towards creating the product
- Peer and self-assessment mechanisms to guide the process
This chapter introduces the first part of the process, which includes theory and concepts about team life that may be valuable to teach to students in the first part of their orientation to team projects.
Content for Initial Teamwork Sessions
Much of what we consider to be good team process is implicit; we assume that students know how to work in a team, but rarely teach them about the elements of well-functioning, interdependent teams. Content for class sessions or assigned reading on teams might include:
- Elements of a cooperative team
- Stages of team life (e.g. Tuckman’s stages of team development)
- Communication skills for teams
Elements of a Cooperative Team
What is a team? A Team is two or more people, working together, on a Common Goal (or goals) (A. Macpherson). Groups become teams when a goal is in place, and the team attends to both interpersonal and task-related functions.
Johnson et al., (1991) identified five key elements that characterize successful cooperative teams.
- Positive interdependence: The group understands that they will “sink or swim” together, depending on each other to achieve a common goal. A team with positive interdependence focuses on establishing strong group performance, creates common goals, and shares resources and expertise that contribute to reaching that goal.
- Individual accountability: Each team member takes on responsibility for meeting their part of the team’s goal. Each team member produces work that meets the agreed upon quality and quantity standards that the group has set.
- Promotive interaction (face to face or online): Team members help and support each others’ efforts to learn. This can occur during face to face meetings, or in virtual settings as agreed upon by the team.
- Interpersonal communication skills: Successful teams put into practice the skills they have learned about leadership, building trust, active listening, respecting diversity, communication, and problem solving.
- Group processing: At the end of a work period, the group evaluates its own performance. Questions to ask include: (1) What did each group member to to support the success of the team? (2) What could each group member