24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
For more resources: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference
Maximizing Teams in the 21st Century
Sandra Deacon Carr
Sandra Zarotney Keldsen
Jeffrey G. Miller
Center for Team Learning,
Boston University School of Management
What’s so different about teams and learning in the 21st Century? Haven’t we seen it all before? Well,
yes, we have seen many of the advantages and problems with student teaming before, but events since the
Millennium have fundamentally changed both the need and the opportunity to train students to work and
learn effectively in teams.
•
Global competitive pressures have increased the expectations of employers that students
have mastery of both information technology and teaming. THE 2007 GMAC Employers
report again concludes: “When companies select and hire a graduating MBA or other
graduate business student, they primarily focus on the candidate’s interpersonal skills and
how well he or she will fit into the company’s culture.”2
•
Nearly all American business school and engineering students own their own computers,
or at least ready access to them3. Computers and the Internet provide students with an
opportunity to tap into enormous reservoirs of knowledge and to explore them more
deeply. A team exploring these fonts of knowledge collaboratively can take on much
more significant and challenging assignments than ever before.
•
Increased bandwidth, wireless, collaborative software, and the integration of laptops,
servers and cell phones have opened up new ways for students and faculty to share
information and insights and to communicate with one another4. The bad news:
professors complain that they don’t have enough time to teach everything they feel they
should. The good news: “classes” need not be limited to the scheduled hours of the
classroom, the opportunities for individualized feedback and coaching are enhanced.
•
The social networking storm, led by MySpace and Facebook, has fundamentally changed
the way young people present themselves to a networked public, and interact with their
peers and elders5. The role these sites play in identity formation and “socialization”
provides a completely new mode for social growth, maturation and bonding. Entering
students are accustomed to working in networked groups (or sometimes gangs). We fear
that these young people are spending too much time in front of computer screens with
“virtual” friends, and too little time playing sports or engaging in other activities that
prepare them for making groups productive, that is, teams.
Faculty, department chairs and deans all understand the need to better prepare our students to work in
teams. Our objectives in this paper are to identify and illustrate the opportunities to leverage recent
“Corporate Recruiter’s Survey, 2007”
“The Internet Goes to College: How students are living in the future
with today’s technology”, Steve Jones, Senior Research Fellow Pew Internet Project Survey
4
Ibid
2
3
5 “Social Networking Websites and Teens: An Overview”, 1/7/2007 | Pew Internet Research Memo | Amanda Lenhart Mary Madden
Copyright 2008 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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author(s) and the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
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24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
For more resources: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference
advances in technology and social behavior so that students learn more in teams, as well as how to
become better teammates and team leaders. We demonstrate how the Team Learning Assistant software,
designed to exploit high bandwidth asynchronous technologies and social networks, enables faculty to
efficiently interact with learning teams so that learning goals are achieved while learning outcomes are
documented. We also identify faculty strategies for managing difficult teams on-line, so that the barriers
to learning are diminished.
Learning More in Teams
We use teams in higher education for many reasons. We use them so students can learn teaming and
leadership skills from experience, to bring different points of view to bear on a subject, to expose students
to problems that are too “big” for one student alone. Some use teams to meet contact hour or
accreditation6 requirement, and almost everyone uses teams to some extent because business demands it.
The term “teams” is often used loosely to include study groups. The difference is important, because
study groups, while helpful, are not held accountable to each other or to the instructor. There is
substantial evidence that when teams are organized properly, overall learning of subject matter increases
substantially. Brunel and Hibbard report8 that students in effective teams not only get higher grades in
their team projects, but also in their individual examinations.
The following general principles of team learning are important in organizing teams:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Teams are selected by faculty
Students are tested for individual proficiency
Students have a measurable stake in the learning of others on the team
Students are evaluated on:
•
•
Coaching and team skills
Team performance
However, before even starting to select teams, the instructor must ask how teams advance learning
objectives. As part of creating a course syllabus, management program faculty typically need to determine
the team learning objectives of the course. Key questions to consider before creating a syllabus include:
What concepts can best be learned in teams? How does teamwork in my course relate to that used in other
courses? (In other words, how much of a student's overall time will be spent in a team?) What resources
are needed to make the team learning experience successful? How do I communicate the importance of
team learning to my students?
The AACSB standard is as follows: “Normally, the curriculum management process will result in undergraduate
and master’s level general management degree programs that will include: Ethical and legal responsibilities….,
Financial theories, analysis, reporting…. Creation of value …. Group and individual dynamics in organizations”.
The standard further stipulates that “Individual Students (will) operate with integrity in their dealings with faculty
and peers . . . and contribute to the learning of others…”
6
7
Brunell and Hibbard, “Using innovations in Student teaming to leverage cross-functional and marketing learning:
Evidence from a fully integrated undergraduate core,” Marketing Education Review, Fall, 2006
8
Brunell and Hibbard, “Using innovations in Student teaming to leverage cross-functional and marketing learning:
Evidence from a fully integrated undergraduate core,” Marketing Education Review, Fall, 2006
Copyright 2008 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Duplication or redistribution prohibited without written permission of the
author(s) and the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
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24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
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Creating appropriate team assignments is an important step for faculty to take when integrating Team
Learning into their courses. Team assignments should be designed such that they require coordinated
team effort for completion and are clearly relevant to the educational objectives of the course. In addition,
both team and individual performance measures need to be included in the task design, such that each
team member has a measurable stake in one another's grades. Team Learning occurs when each team
member becomes committed to helping every other team member learn more in order to succeed.
Team composition and size is also an important decision for the instructor. The following criteria should
be considered when composing teams: geography, gender, experience (e.g., work, previous university
degree if graduate student, major/concentration if undergraduate student, etc.), and skills (e.g., writing,
oral presentation, computer, etc.). Although seemingly obvious, it is important to state that the size of the
team should be determined by the complexity of the team's tasks, with each team member assuming an
active, important task-completion role on the team. Team size directly influences the team's ability to
manage itself, do the work required, and hold each member accountable for high performance. Teams that
are too large allow some members to slack off at others' expense, while teams that have too few members
often report feeling overloaded and overwhelmed with the amount of work required.
The Team Learning Assistant
The Team Learning Assistant (TLA) is a web application developed by the Center for Team Learning at
Boston University School of Management in partnership with Roundbox Global. It has been widely used
across BU’s School of Management for several years, and has been used by over 25,000 students at 75
Universities and Colleges throughout the US and Canada.
The TLA was designed to maximize students’ team learning experiences, and save faculty and students
valuable time using a concise six-step approach to Team Learning. TLA “Six Steps” can be integrated
into any course to provide teams with a path for learning. Students are given responsibility and tools to
manage their own teams, and technology gives team members “red alerts” so they can stay ahead of
problems. Technology gives instructors a “heads up” regarding each team’s and each team member’s
performance. Data provides a clear basis for assigning team and individual grades, and assessing
educational outcomes
The TLA: Six Steps In the Cycle of Learning
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Team Introduction
Team Contracting
Team Management
Peer Feedback
After Action Review
Peer Evaluation
All assignments, readings and teaching notes are available online. The built in reporting systems alleviate
the need for faculty to create and collect paperwork, and provides them with a means of holding each
team member accountable for team performance. Faculty can choose from a variety of team assignments
and schedule them as needed to fit their curriculum. TLA provides faculty with an opportunity to
facilitate teams around course objectives, while producing measurable team learning outcomes for
students. The performance reporting features give faculty insight into the teams and individual team
members: the reports denote which teams/team members are high performing and which teams/team
members are in need of assistance. Similarly, these reports provide students a means to track individual
and team progress and help teams manage the “slackers” and the “bulldozers.” Students have an online
Copyright 2008 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Duplication or redistribution prohibited without written permission of the
author(s) and the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
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24th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
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record of their completed assignments as well as feedback from their peers. They have access to readings
that help them facilitate both online and face-to-face feedback sessions.
Using The TLA To Manage Student Teams
Professors are accustomed to reading the body language and verbal signals of their students. Team
Learning in the 21st Century requires that faculty also learn how to read and interpret the data and lingo
that student teams generate and employ on-line. The Team Learning Assistant is designed to help the
instructor quickly identify and interpret the signals individual team member’s send, and to identify the
patterns of overall team behavior that block effective learning.
We stress that the team, not the professor, generally has the best solutions to the problem they face.
The Results of Team Learning
Improving individual student team skills improves learning for everyone: Less time spent dealing with
team conflicts, slackers and bulldozers, more time spent on team projects and learning, better use of
diverse resources in the team.
Student benefits:
•
Students learn from teammates
•
Team meeting time is reduced
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Study time is increased to enable individual learning
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Ensures students learn how to team, reduces conflict, and saves time
•
Provides data for student portfolios.
Faculty benefits:
•
Can monitor progress and reduce office time dedicated to problem teams
•
Provides a fair basis for grading team efforts with less time
•
Team Component does not detract from core material.
Administrator Benefits:
•
•
•
The TLA measures and ensures desired learning outcomes
Facilitates reporting for accreditation
Prepares students for successful careers and employers view your program with deeper
value
Copyright 2008 Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Duplication or redistribution prohibited without written permission of the
author(s) and the Annual Conference on Distance Teaching & Learning
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