April 26, 2011

Establish expectations for appropriate team citizenship behavior to develop team skills and address team dynamic problems proactively

An important learning outcome for group work is that students learn to function effectively as a team member by engaging in appropriate team citizenship behaviors and communicating clearly and civilly with team members.

Unfortunately, students working in teams are frequently expected to either bring these skills to the team project or discover these skills on their own while completing a team project.  When students and faculty experience negative outcomes from dysfunctional teams that cannot meet these expectations, they dread subsequent assignments that entail group work.

The following assignment establishes expectations for appropriate team behavior and a rubric for evaluating these skills:

Ask students to meet with their team members (or hold a threaded discussion in D2L) on the characteristics and behaviors of an exemplary group member by answering the following questions:

• What makes a person an exemplary group member, a person everyone is happy to have as a member of their group?
• What makes a person a terrible group member, the person nobody wants in their group?

As a class activity, ask members of the various teams to share their descriptions.  Develop a rubric or other grading/feedback form that uses the criteria described in the team discussions.

• Identify categories or dimensions of behavior that characterize important components of team behavior (communication skills, deadline skills, quality of contribution to the group work, etc.).  Encourage students to identify unambiguous, objective or behavioral descriptions of student characteristics and behaviors related to these dimensions.
• Use descriptive language from responses to the first question to describe performance in dimensions of team behavior that meet or exceed expectations.
• Use descriptive language from responses to the second question to describe performance in dimensions of team behavior that are below or fail to meet expectations.

Students typically generate appropriate criteria and descriptions of exemplary and problematic team member behaviors in these activities.  This rubric can then be used for peer evaluation of individual contributions to the group project.  Although you might be able to predict the content of the rubric students generate during this activity, do not be tempted to save class time and simply provide a rubric you create.  The process of identifying and defining student-generated criteria establishes norms for group work, communicates these expectations clearly, and develops consensus among students that these expectations are appropriate. 

Hold students accountable for good team behavior by using this rubric to compute a component of student grades.  For example, in addition to the grade the group receives for the final product produced for a group project, each member will receive an individual grade that is determined by the following components:

• Peer assessments of each student’s contributions and performance as a group member (using the rubric)
• Self-assessment of the student’s contributions and performance as a group member (also using the rubric with a reflective rationale)
• Assessment of the student’s contribution by the instructor based on the student’s "individual contribution log" (a separate assignment) and the instructor’s observations of the groups at work.  These observations and logs can be maintained online through threaded discussions for group communications.

This tip is based on a suggestion from Dr. Claire Lamonica, Associate Director, Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology, Illinois State University.

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April 12, 2011

Anticipate problems in team dynamics and help students develop strategies for resolving conflicts during group work

Students frequently justify their resistance to working in a group by relating a past negative experience when dysfunctional team dynamics created stress and interfered with completion of a group project.  Many individuals are conflict avoidant and have difficulty identifying strategies for resolving conflicts that might arise during a group project.  However, instructors assign group projects because these activities create opportunities for students to learn and practice effective communication and conflict resolution skills.  Much stress can be avoided if students identify useful conflict resolution strategies before they are confronted with an actual conflict.

• Create a class activity in which the students brainstorm a list of problems they've encountered during previous group assignments (one person not pulling his/her weight is generally included in the top three problems). 

• Divide the class into smaller groups and ask each group to brainstorm at least three strategies for dealing with each of these problems, should the group encounter this problem while completing this project. 

• Compile a list of strategies contributed when groups report the strategies they discussed during individual brainstorming sessions.  Distribute the compiled list of "Strategies for Dealing with Common Group Problems" as a handout.

• If a group encounters one of these problems during its project work, the group members must try using these strategies to resolve their conflict before they ask the instructor to intervene and help resolve the conflict. 

With this strategy, instructors rarely have to serve as mediators for group conflict.  Students learn to manage conflicts effectively as members of their team.

This tip is based on a suggestion from Dr. Claire Lamonica, Associate Director, Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology, Illinois State University.

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January 18, 2011

Create activities that develop team skills and enable students to work effectively in groups

Students will work more effectively in groups on a major project if you provide them with explicit training on how to manage group dynamics and interpersonal interaction. If course learning outcomes include project management outcomes such as working effectively with colleagues, then include activities in the class that will teach these skills.  An effective instructional activity for group interaction will

• Provide instructions and specific criteria that define effective interaction.
• Create opportunities for practice, feedback, and opportunities to improve performance.

 
Strategies for structuring and guiding group processes

• Describe the common problems that characterize groups that go astray.
• Provide clear guidelines for group work.  Create a rubric that describes these expectations.  Group members and instructors should use this rubric to evaluate group processes and interaction to provide formative feedback during the term as well as for grading when the project is completed.  Examples of rubrics for team participation can be found on the Examples of Rubrics page on the CUTLA web site (http://uwf.edu/cutla/rubricexamples.cfm).
• Require that each group compose and sign a written agreement before beginning their work together.  The agreement should describe in detail the responsibilities of all members of the group (for example, being on time for meetings, completing their share of the work by specified deadlines, communicating regularly with other group members), and tasks that individual members will complete (Mary will research this part; John will research this part; Ling-Chi will produce the first full draft; Jamal will edit the draft).
• Each group should appoint each member to carry out specific group process roles such as record keeper, convener, deadline manager, and any other roles needed to monitor group process.
• Require that each group provide regular and frequent feedback to you and to each other.  At the end of each meeting, whether online or face-to-face, group members can write an email to one another and describe what they thought was successful about the group meeting and what they thought needed improvement.  Alternatively, they could post these comments to a discussion thread.  If the groups use email for this task, one group member should compile the responses and send the compilation to you, which will allow you to step in quickly if the group is struggling.  Some instructors create a Google group or an area in D2L for each group in the class and require that all group planning and interaction be carried out in a dedicated discussion thread and post interim group work through a common drop box.  The automatic tracking and time tags created for posts and document uploads in these electronic tools can be used as a way to evaluate and grade the effectiveness of group processes and document the contributions of individuals to the group effort.
• Schedule a face-to-face or synchronous online meeting with each group at intervals to check the group's progress and interaction. At these meeting, any member of the group who feels another group member is not doing his or her share should say so during this meeting so the issue can be discussed and you can facilitate.

This tip was based on a submission by Barbara Millis, Teaching and Learning Center, University of Texas at San Antonio.
http://www.utsa.edu/tlc/

Portions of this tip were based on Walvoord, B. E., & Anderson, V. J. (2010). Effective grading:  A tool for learning and assessment in college (2nd ed).  Jossey-Bass and circulated as a teaching tip by TOMORROW'S PROFESSOR(sm) eMAIL NEWSLETTER  http://cgi.stanford.edu/~dept-ctl/cgi-bin/tomprof/postings.php.

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November 2, 2010

Improve team dynamics by providing resources to help students develop and complete a major group project

The Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation at Clemson University published an 88-page resource, Successful Strategies for Teams: Team Member Handbook (Kennedy & Nilson, 2008), that is designed for students to guide them through the potentially treacherous waters of completing a major group project.  The Team Member Handbook equips students with techniques and templates based on models from corporate experience that are effective in making teams more productive, efficient, and successful.  Specifically, these techniques help teams organize information, organize and run effective meetings, and generate useful member contributions.  This handbook promotes a variety of learning outcomes for students:

• recognize different team player styles and identify what each style contributes to the team
• organize a new team with clear ground rules, roles, and responsibilities
• organize and run effective team meetings that stay on track
• practice sound project and time planning
• solve problems effectively by following a series of steps
• apply qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques to solving problems
• describe when and how to use the appropriate organizational, data collection, and analysis tools for a team task.

Sections of the handbook address why students should learn to excel at teamwork, the stages of team development, team player styles, mental models of teamwork, teamwork skills, ways to troubleshoot group problems, and tools for organizing, problem solving, and collecting and analyzing information.

Successful Strategies for Teams: Team Member Handbook
by Frances A. Kennedy, Ph.D. with Linda B. Nilson, Ph.D
Available as a free download to everyone at:
http://www.clemson.edu/OTEI/documents/TeamworkHandbook.pdf

You can also download an Excel spreadsheet with templates for team planning tools:
http://www.clemson.edu/OTEI/documents/team-tools.xls

This tip was adapted from a contribution to the Teaching and Learning Writing Consortium (sponsored by Western Kentucky University), by Linda B. Nilson, Ph.D., Director, Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation, Clemson University (www.clemson.edu/OTEI).

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February 24, 2009

Establish norms and expectations for individual contributions to group work

Students who are new to group work may be uncertain about how to be an effective member of the group. Establish clear expectations for good group citizenship and team skills by asking students to develop a group contract. You can assist this process by providing a sample contract that students could adapt to the needs of specific groups and projects.

A group contract should include two types of information:

1. Describe behaviors that are expected of all members of the group. Limit this description to behaviors that are critical for effective group performance.
   
2. Describe the procedures the group should follow to resolve conflict and overcome obstacles. Identify how decisions will be made, the steps that should be followed, and the roles group members should play when resolving conflicts. If the group is unable to resolve a conflict, who can they appeal to for arbitration? What efforts must the group make before asking the instructor to intervene?

TRACE Tips: Making Group Contracts provides examples of guidelines that students might include in a group contract, including guidelines that address student effort and attendance issues, procedures for group meetings, roles of group members, behavioral expectations, and a procedure for resolving conflict within the group.

TRACE Tips: Making Group Contracts
Centre for Teaching Excellence
University of Waterloo
http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/teaching_resources/tips/making_group_contracts.html

 

 

Updated 04/26/11