Instructor Tools:
Quick Guide to Managing Groupwork This guide focuses specifically on applying cultural competence when using team-based projects in your classes.
Group projects are difficult because of ambiguity. Novices benefit from guided practice, so you may want to provide significant structure for students the first time they engage in teamwork in your class. In Teamwork is Best — Or is It? the author offers a list of questions to ask yourself about how you have designed the team-based assignment for your students. Any element of this list that you have not chosen to structure for your students is one that you may need to devote class time to teaching students how to structure for themselves.
Assessing Groupwork from Center for the Study of Higher Education gives a clear list of elements to include in well-designed team-based assignments. And Assessing by Groupwork from University of New South Wales, Sydney offers even more detail about how to prepare a team-based assignment, including considering the communication technologies you’re going to suggest that teams should use.
Studies show that (1) fair assessment of teamwork (acknowledging individual contributions), (2) teaching teamwork skills and (3) team formation approaches are key factors in how learners experience team-based assignments, and Bad attitudes: Why design students dislike teamwork describes how to structure these elements well in order to minimize unnecessary barriers to teams’ success.
Student Resources:
Team member roles quiz. This quiz is a self-assessment to help students identify what type of role they are likely to feel comfortable in when working in a group and it is followed by examples of how those roles are successfully played for the benefit of the team.
Reflecting on teamwork. This worksheet asks students to reflect on their experiences working in teams and could be a good ice-breaker activity when introducing a team-based assignment.
Team Contract. This contract can be used in class to help teams establish their ground rules. Students will need instruction on the elements of the contract and examples of answers to the contract questions.
Team Member Evaluation Rubric. This template allows a team to create their own list of criteria for evaluating team members. Examples of criteria are provided in the form.
Managing Conflict. This guide provides steps for talking about and resolving conflicts.
Note: The following materials are Open Education Resources–they can be revised, remixed, and redistributed freely without having to contact the authors for permission.
Ethics of Teamwork module with reading and activities. Powerpoints are provided. The purpose of this module is to add structured planning steps to group projects in order to reinforce the skills needed for successful teamwork.
Using Technology to Facilitate Meetings excerpt from Business Communication for Success is a good reminder to students about the tools they can use to meet with their teams when they can’t meet face-to-face and offers suggestions for preparing to use these tools effectively.
Conflict Resolution book chapter from Working in the Food Service Industry The chapter provides examples of how to handle disagreements and how to come to positive resolutions.