Optimizing Student Team Skill Development using Evidence-Based Strategies

在工程中，有效的团队合作至关重要，这一点已得到广泛认可。然而，令人惊讶的是，人们对如何在高等教育课堂上培养团队合作技能知之甚少，包括哪些因素有助于有效的团队合作、它们在团队整体绩效中的相对重要性以及潜在的个人和人际动态。越来越多的工程教师采用依赖于团队合作的教学实践，但许多教师只是组成学生团队，并希望成员单独和集体学习自己如何在团队中工作，并成功地完成任务。 教师这样做是因为他们没有更好的方法指导。本研究课题是为了解决教师知识的不足，在工程教育学、认知心理学、社会心理学等领域的研究基础上，开展实证研究，为教师提供必要的知识和工具，以确保学生学会团队合作技能。研究小组正在进行七项独立的研究，测量团队合作培训的影响，团队工作经验，虚拟团队成员的团队合作实践评级，以及给予和接受同行反馈。 这项研究正在测量真实的团队中的三种学习成果：提高团队合作知识，提高评估团队合作的能力，提高在团队中有效运作的能力。这些研究将为时间紧迫的教师提出切实可行的建议。

The critical importance of effective teamwork in engineering is widely recognized. Surprisingly, however, relatively little is known about how to develop teamwork skills in higher education classes, including what factors contribute to effective teamwork, their relative importance in a team's overall performance, and the underlying individual and interpersonal dynamics. Increasing numbers of engineering instructors are adopting instructional practices relying on teamwork, yet many instructors simply form student teams and hope the members individually and collectively learn on their own how to work in teams and succeed in their task(s). Instructors do this because they do not have guidance for a better approach. This research project aims to address this gap in faculty knowledge.The empirical studies conducted as part of this project build on research in engineering education, cognitive psychology, social psychology, and other fields in a coordinated large-scale research project that will provide faculty with needed knowledge and tools to ensure that students learn team skills. The research team is conducting seven separate studies measuring the impact of teamwork training, experience working in teams, practice rating the teamwork of fictitious team members, and giving and receiving peer feedback. The research is measuring each of these effects in real teams on three learning outcomes: improved teamwork knowledge, improved ability to evaluate teamwork, and improved ability to function effectively in teams. These studies will result in practical recommendations for time-pressed faculty to implement.