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Cooperative Learning: Teamwork for Engineering Classrooms Karl A. Smith University of Minnesota March 1995 IEEE education society/ASEE electrical engineering division newsletter Karl A. Smith University of Minnesota March 1995 IEEE education society/ASEE electrical engineering division newsletter

Team Management Reflections ä Think about your most successful/effective team project experience ä What were the characteristics of the team? ä What were the conditions? ä Have you had experiences with teams that were ineffective or frustrating? ä What made the team ineffective? ä What could you have done to improve the team? ä Think about your most successful/effective team project experience ä What were the characteristics of the team? ä What were the conditions? ä Have you had experiences with teams that were ineffective or frustrating? ä What made the team ineffective? ä What could you have done to improve the team?

Types of Teams Performance Level Types of Teams Pseudo Cooperative High-Performing Cooperative Traditional members team

Pseudo-learning Teams ä Believe they will be evaluated individually relative to others ä Perceive other group members as rivals ä Block or interfere with each other’s learning ä Attempt to mislead and confuse each other ä Would achieve more if they worked alone ä Believe they will be evaluated individually relative to others ä Perceive other group members as rivals ä Block or interfere with each other’s learning ä Attempt to mislead and confuse each other ä Would achieve more if they worked alone Team members:

Traditional Classroom Learning Teams ä Believe they will be evaluated and rewarded as individuals, not as a team ä Interact primarily to clarify how assignments are to be done ä Have no motivation to teach what they know to their teammates ä May seek a free ride on the efforts of teammates ä Or may feel exploited and do less ä Believe they will be evaluated and rewarded as individuals, not as a team ä Interact primarily to clarify how assignments are to be done ä Have no motivation to teach what they know to their teammates ä May seek a free ride on the efforts of teammates ä Or may feel exploited and do less Team members:

Cooperative Learning Teams ä Have a goal of maximizing all members’ learning ä Hold themselves accountable for doing high quality work ä Work face-to-face to produce joint work-products ä Promote success through helping, sharing, assisting, explaining, and encouraging ä Provide both academic and personal support based on a commitment to and caring about each other ä Use teamwork skills to coordinate their efforts and achieve their goals ä Share responsibility for providing leadership ä Analyze how effectively they are achieving their goals ä Emphasize continual improvement of the teamwork process ä Have a goal of maximizing all members’ learning ä Hold themselves accountable for doing high quality work ä Work face-to-face to produce joint work-products ä Promote success through helping, sharing, assisting, explaining, and encouraging ä Provide both academic and personal support based on a commitment to and caring about each other ä Use teamwork skills to coordinate their efforts and achieve their goals ä Share responsibility for providing leadership ä Analyze how effectively they are achieving their goals ä Emphasize continual improvement of the teamwork process

High-performance Cooperative Learning Team ä Meets all the expectations of the cooperative learning team ä Outperforms all reasonable expectations, given its membership ä High level of commitment ä Mutual concern for each other’s personal growth ä Achieve high-performance and also have lots of fun ä Meets all the expectations of the cooperative learning team ä Outperforms all reasonable expectations, given its membership ä High level of commitment ä Mutual concern for each other’s personal growth ä Achieve high-performance and also have lots of fun

What Makes Cooperative Learning Work? ä Positive interdependence ä Face-to-face interaction ä Individual accountability/personal responsibility ä Teamwork skills ä Group processing ä Positive interdependence ä Face-to-face interaction ä Individual accountability/personal responsibility ä Teamwork skills ä Group processing

Teamwork Skills ä Leadership ä Decision-making ä Trust-building ä Communication ä Conflict-management ä Team processing ä Conversation about the process ä Leadership ä Decision-making ä Trust-building ä Communication ä Conflict-management ä Team processing ä Conversation about the process

Course Grading ä Not on a curve ä You are not competing with your classmates ä If you all do well, you will all get good grades ä Cooperation is rewarded, not penalized ä Not on a curve ä You are not competing with your classmates ä If you all do well, you will all get good grades ä Cooperation is rewarded, not penalized

Full Laboratory Reports ä Write the laboratory report as if the experiment was your idea. ä Imagine that you are working for a consulting firm or in a research laboratory and that you needed to do laboratory research to investigate options for a real world project. ä See the class web site for detailed guidance. ä Write the laboratory report as if the experiment was your idea. ä Imagine that you are working for a consulting firm or in a research laboratory and that you needed to do laboratory research to investigate options for a real world project. ä See the class web site for detailed guidance.

Laboratory Notebooks ä Use a Laboratory notebook to keep track of the details ä exact masses and volumes used in the preparation of samples ä sources of materials used ä detailed descriptions of techniques ä Document procedures that didn’t work as well as procedures that were successful ä Use a Laboratory notebook to keep track of the details ä exact masses and volumes used in the preparation of samples ä sources of materials used ä detailed descriptions of techniques ä Document procedures that didn’t work as well as procedures that were successful

Oral Report Logistics ä Sign up for the oral report on the web. Make sure to verify that you aren’t signing up for a slot that is already taken! ä Information on the various topics may be obtained from ä World wide web ä Library (allow enough time to recall resources) ä Recommend PowerPoint ä Give a paper copy of the presentation to me at the beginning of the presentation ä The oral presentations will be given at the beginning of the period ä Sign up for the oral report on the web. Make sure to verify that you aren’t signing up for a slot that is already taken! ä Information on the various topics may be obtained from ä World wide web ä Library (allow enough time to recall resources) ä Recommend PowerPoint ä Give a paper copy of the presentation to me at the beginning of the presentation ä The oral presentations will be given at the beginning of the period