Teaching Students How to Work in Teams

Presented at the CDL Conference

In Saratoga Springs, NY

On 30 April 2011

by

Al Lawrence and Jim Savitt

Why Teamwork?

• Employers value teamwork• Constructivist principles / collaborative learning• Develop social relationships• Improve skills and knowledge

Needed for success

• Time management• Planning• Coordination• Role allocation and cooperation

3

Setting Ground Rules

• Punctuality• Being prepared for meetings• Valuing diversity among members• Completing work on time• Being honest• Participating in meetings• Reaching consensus• Keeping everyone informed• Respect• Playing an active role

Team-Based Learning at Empire State College

• External Environment– Supports development of certain core competencies

• Organizational management

• Leadership through communication

• Collaboration

• Horizontal egalitarian trustful relationships– (See Naim Kapucu , “Developing Competency-Based Emergency Management Degree

Programs in Public Affairs and Administration”, presented at 14 th annual Emergency Management Higher Education Conference, Emmitsburg, MD, 10 June 2010)

• Internal Environment– Supports student-centered learning

• Students and instructor share responsibility for learning

5

Strategy

• Clarity of Expectations– Course / subject matter outcomes– Learning mechanism links to external environment

• Selected competencies resulting from teamwork– Organizational management

» Putting together the team structure for the project

– Leadership through communication» Framing issues for decision-making

– Collaboration» Recognition and utilization of each member’s skills

– Horizontal egalitarian trustful relationships» Productive dependence on each other

6

Tactics

• Commitments– Instructor

• Guide students through subject matter– Student-centered: Discovery replaces lectures

• Help students understand the benefits of team-based learning– Team-based discovery can be self-reinforcing

– Students• Make efforts to understand subject matter

– Internalization through application of (discovered) principles

• Help their classmates understand subject matter– Shared approaches to discovery

7

Operations

• Learning Activities– Discussions

• At a distance

• Face-to-face

• At a distance

– Team exercises (face-to-face)• Structured

• Project planning and commitments

– Team activities (at a distance)• Formal project plan with individual contributions noted to be done

• Completed project

8

Outcomes

• Higher marks on the project• Learned more about the subject matter• Learned more about team work• Group performed more cohesively than untrained teams