1. Robert W. Lingard California State University, Northridge
Improving the Teaching of Teamwork skills in Engineering and Computer Science
Robert W. Lingard
California State University, Northridge
IMETI 2010

2. Overview Teamwork – The Neglected Engineering Skill What is Teamwork?
How Do We Know When Teamwork is Happening?
Results from Recent Studies
How Can We Improve Teamwork Learning?
Conclusions
IMETI 2010

3. Teamwork – The Neglected Engineering Skill
Most today would agree that teamwork is important in engineering and computer science.
Our industrial partners tell us they need graduates who can work effectively in teams.
ABET demands that we teach teamwork and that our graduates can demonstrate teamwork skills
IMETI 2010

4. Teamwork – The Neglected Engineering Skill (Cont’d)
Most educational programs do not adequately address the teaching of teamwork skills.
Neither do they assess how well these skills are being mastered.
Consequently, the learning of these skills is usually a matter of chance.
IMETI 2010

5. Teamwork Teaching Fallacies
It’s not the responsibility of Engineering and Computer Science faculty to teach teamwork and communication skills
But then who does it?
Experience is the best teacher
Poor team experiences create negative feelings regarding teamwork
Students will learn to work on teams once they graduate and get jobs
Their lack of teamwork skills can make it harder to get jobs in the first place
IMETI 2010

6. What is Teamwork?
IMETI 2010

7. Teamwork in Soccer (Fútbol)
IMETI 2010

8. Teamwork on the Job
IMETI 2010

9. What Makes a Team Successful?
It is composed of individuals with unique, yet synergistic talents.
Each member understands and carries out his or her responsibilities.
Members communicate effectively with one another, sharing ideas and listening to the suggestions of others.
Members request help and offer help as needed.
The team stays focused and members share a common goal.
IMETI 2010

10. Developing Measurable Teamwork Performance Criteria
A specific set of individual teamwork skills was developed based on input from the following groups.
Current students
Alumni
Faculty
Industry Partners
IMETI 2010

11. Specific Teamwork Skills
Attend (nearly all) team meetings
Arrive on time for (nearly all) team meetings
Communicate clearly with other team members
Share knowledge with others
Introduce new ideas
Openly express opinions
IMETI 2010

12. Specific Teamwork Skills (Cont’d)
Consider suggestions from others
Adopt suggestions from others
Try to understand what others say
Provide help to other team members
Ask for help form other team members
Complete assignments on time
IMETI 2010

13. Specific Teamwork Skills (Cont’d)
Complete assignments with acceptable quality
Do research and gather information
Do a fair share of the work
Be committed to team goals
Show respect for others
Distinguish between the important and the trivial
IMETI 2010

14. How Do We Know When Teamwork Is Happening?
Make independent observations
Evaluate the evidence of individual team member contributions
Conduct peer reviews
IMETI 2010

15. Independent Observation
Instructors, lab assistants, or outside observers attend team meetings
But this observation can influence student behavior
If meetings are held online the monitoring can be unobtrusive.
Only some team activities are practical to observe
IMETI 2010

16. Evaluating Individual Team Member Contributions
Individual contributions can be independently evaluated
Requiring students to post contributions online is an easy way to gain access to these contributions
But, not all teamwork skills involve artifacts produced by individual team members
IMETI 2010

17. Peer Evaluations
Each team member evaluates the performance of other members
Evaluations should be anonymous and include self ratings
Team members are in the best position to evaluate teammates
But, students are often reluctant to be critical of fellow students
IMETI 2010

18. Peer Evaluation Form
IMETI 2010

19. Results from Recent Studies
Teamwork Attribute
Percent Achieved
Demonstrate an ability to do research and gather information
96.3%
Generally tried to understand what other team members were saying
86.4%
. . . %
Show an ability to distinguish between the important and the trivial
69.9%
Communicate clearly with other team members
68.1%
Help someone on the team
66.4%
Ask for help from someone on the team
63.9%
IMETI 2010

20. How Do We Improve the Learning of Teamwork Skills?
Identify the skills where improvement is most needed.
Develop tools and techniques to improve leaning of those skills.
Reassess to determine whether the new approach helped.
Revise approach as needed and repeat.
IMETI 2010

21. The “Ask For Help” and “Provide Help” Skills
People (especially students) tend not to ask for help when they need it.
A possible solution is to reward both the requesting and giving of help.
We created the “Help Certificate” to try to accomplish that.
IMETI 2010

22. Help Certificate
IMETI 2010

23. Clear Communication Within the Team
Engineering students are conditioned to work independently and tend to be introverted.
By giving assignments in which each member of the team must independently come up with a solution, and then present their solution to the team, communication can be improved.
IMETI 2010

24. Sharing a Solution with the Team
IMETI 2010

25. Distinguishing Between the Important and the Trivial
Engineering and Computer Science students are Fact-Finders in the Kolbe™ sense.
That is, they can get bogged down in details. “Analysis Paralysis” can set in.
We added an item to the required Meeting Report Form for student projects requiring them to identify the current important issues or problems.
IMETI 2010

26. Meeting Report
IMETI 2010

27. Help Team Members Focus on the Important Issues
IMETI 2010

28. Conclusions
It is vitally important that Engineering and Computer Science students learn to work effectively on teams.
It is less clear how to provide an effective learning environment in which they can do this.
The approach recommended is one of continual improvement in which the areas of greatest weakness are identified and tools and techniques are developed to improve those specific skills.
IMETI 2010