Module 3: Team Building

When I go mountaineering I need a team that is well trained and reliable to work well together. We need to build trust and be honest with each other if we are going to be successful in our mission. The effectiveness of team learning as an instructional strategy is based on the fact that it nurtures the development of high levels of group cohesiveness which, in turn, results in a wide variety of other positive outcomes. Larry Michealsen

We are defining teams as extended groups (at least half a semester) where students have to learn to work with and manage a major project with other students. This is a difficult task for most students. Time has to be taken in class to not only teach your content, but to teach the competencies they will need to learn to be productive team members. When designing your course, competencies need to be included in your course learning outcomes and should intentionally be part of your content. Time needs to be allocated in class to teaching these skills and to students practicing them. We suggest 20%- 30% of class time is needed to do this well, but if integrated into the content can lead to great active learning activities.

COMPETENCIES

There are six main competencies that students need to practice to work in teams successfully. Make these competencies transparent to the students and encourage them to practice them, especially while working collaboratively. Click on these boxes to see some activities to give students practice developing these. Try to integrate this practice into the class content.

BEST PRACTICES

Rationale. Explain to students why you are using this methodology, and get buy-in from them about the benefits of being productive team members. Show them the graph from NACE in the introduction to show that employers value people who can work in a team. Make the competencies they are learning explicit to them so they can include them on application letters or resumes. Design their projects so they have an artifact they can share in their portfolio.

Course Design. Let the course choose the methodology, not the methodology the course. Use team learning when the projects will be a better product because they are done in teams and you have time to teach team skills.

Intentional Team Structure. How teams are formed is directly related to your outcomes. Think about the nature of the team project and think about the diversity of skills, experiences, and perspectives the teams need to fulfill their task most effectively. Choose teams with these in mind. Listen to how Carolyn Seepersad put her students into teams.

Here are some example questions you could ask the students to help put them into well balanced teams. It is generally not recommended to let students chose their own teams. Teams of 3-6 have been shown to be the most productive.

Team Contracts. Get each team to write their own team contract. You can give them a structure, but give them time in class to discuss and come to consensus about processes and product. Make sure they include a communication plan.

One team in Brett Robertson's class produced this video for you to show to your students to get them excited about writing a team contract.

See some team contracts that have been used here at UT.

Example1, Example 2

Making Time. As an instructor, you will need to see your teams working together to mentor and advise them. Set some time in class for them to work on their projects so you can talk to them and observe the team dynamics.

Developing Relevant Projects. Team projects should be complex problems that would be difficult for an individual to solve on their own. Ideal projects are ones that need a diversity of skills and perspectives to produce the final product. Design the project so the whole team can have buy-in to the final product, not just the part they worked on. See page two of this module to see some of the projects that UT faculty have developed.

Presentations. Think about how the students are going to share their products – in class or online, oral or written, to the whole class or another group, or outside persons? I would not recommend that students write a group essay. Make sure there is some synthesis of all the work and not disparate sections.

Assessment. Tie assessment to your stated learning outcomes. Team work is about process and product, individual work and group work, therefore all of these should be assessed. Think about who should assess them, how they will be assessed, what percentage of the grade will each section be? Peer review is often used for assessing process. Reflection can be a powerful tool to see how much has been learned. This chart might be useful. This rubric might be useful.

	Process	Product
Instructor	The instructor can assess the process as they give activities throughout the semester e.g. Were the students: Working well together Using each other’s skills productively and equally Communicating effectively Making good decisions Keeping to the project plan Evaluating their work and using feedback Process assessment or feedback can be for individual students or teams, however the instructor has to have seen the teams in action to assess these. Instructors can also use feedback/grades from peers to include in their final grade.	The instructor can assess the product through a rubric (based on learning outcomes) that the students have from the beginning of their project. To ensure all students have met the required learning outcomes, individuals should be assessed on their individual contributions as well as the group/team product. Depending on the project, it is important to note that products for team work can be unpredictable and not always produce an expected product, this has to be reflected in the assessment. This is why student reflections are so important.
Peer	Team members know how the process is going and are in a good position to give feedback and maybe a grade. Formative feedback, early in the process helps students become better team members. Usually qualitative feedback is given a few weeks into the project, then a mixed qualitative, quantitative review about half way through the project. You can use peer assessments for grades but be careful not to give them too much weight.	Other teams can assess one or two other team’s products by feedback or a grade. Give them guidelines about how to write constructive feedback and make sure there is a rubric for students to use so students know what they are giving feedback on. It is a good idea for students to give feedback a few weeks before the project is due to the instructor so they can act on that feedback. This can be called feed-forward. You can use peer assessments for grades, but be careful not to give them too much weight.
Self	Students can evaluate their process themselves through self-reflection, such as writing journals or using checklists.	Students can evaluate the product themselves through self-reflection or rubrics.

See full table

References

2004. Oakley, B. Felder, R.M., Brent, R., Elhajj, I. Turning Student Groups into Effective Teams. Journal of Student Centered Learning. Volume 2 No. 1 (9-34).

Michealsen L. K., Getting Started with Team Learning

https://www.med.illinois.edu/facultydev/classroom/interactivemethods/michaelson.pdf Links to an external site.

2003. Tanner, K. Chatman, L.S., Allen, D. Approaches to Cell Biology Teaching: Cooperative Learning in the science Classroom – Beyond Students Working in Groups. CBE Life Sciences Education.

2008. Fredrick, T.A. Facilitating Better Teamwork: Analyzing the Challenges ad Strategies of Classroom-Based

2016. Scager, K. Boonstra, J. Peeters, T, Vulperhorst, J. Wiegant, F. Collaborative Learning in Higher education: Evoking Positive Interdependence. CBE Life Sciences Education 15:ar69, 1-9 Winter.

Reading for more information Learn about team activities