Collaborative Research: Enhancing Design Teamwork Experiences and Learning in Engineering Education

本计划旨在为改善工程教育的国家利益服务。具体来说，它旨在改善团队的形成和协作，从而提高工程专业学生在团队中的学习体验。团队合作是所有工程本科课程的重要组成部分，也是专业工程实践的关键技能。对于许多工程专业的学生来说，在学生团队中不满意的经历会对团队合作产生长期的负面情绪，这可能会对他们在工程工作场所的表现产生负面影响。工程导师组建有效的学生团队是确保团队项目、实验和设计课程顺利完成的关键的第一步。团队组成直接影响团队的审议、程序和学习成果。在这个项目中，北伊利诺伊大学和罗切斯特理工学院计划扩展关于最佳学生团队组成的知识。这项工作将包括创建团队组建的概念模型，识别理想团队的特征，以及确定实际团队与理想团队之间的差距。项目活动包括：(i)创建一个概念模型，将团队投入、团队过程和团队产出联系起来；（ii）使用概念模型来确定理想团队的特征，并建立团队组建方法；（三）团队成员协作的改善对团队绩效和学习都有促进作用这一假设的研究。所采取的方法是新颖的、基于证据的、数据驱动的。该项目计划采用“回归”方法来组建团队，使用直接从学生那里获得的数据，这些学生被安排在正常的课堂环境中以小组形式工作两年。将使用描述团队输入、过程和输出的变量收集综合数据。然后在第三年构建回归模型，将输入变量与期望输出关联起来。概念模型中的关联将通过使用经过验证的工具和适当的统计技术对多个假设进行调查来检验。NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest in improving engineering education. Specifically, it intends to improve team formation and collaboration and thus enhance engineering students’ learning experiences in a team. Teamwork is an essential component of all engineering undergraduate programs and is a critical skill for professional engineering practice. For many engineering students, unsatisfactory experiences on a student team can generate long-term negative feelings about teamwork, which can negatively affect their performance in the engineering workplace. Formation of effective student teams by engineering instructors is a critical first step in ensuring that team-based projects, labs, and design courses are successfully completed. Team composition directly affects team deliberations, procedures, and learning outcomes. In this project, Northern Illinois University and Rochester Institute of Technology plan to extend knowledge about optimal student team-formation. This work will include creation of a conceptual model for team formation, recognition of the characteristics of an ideal team, and identification of gaps between the actual and the ideal teams.Project activities include: (i) the creation of a conceptual model that relates team inputs, team processes, and team outputs; (ii) use of the conceptual model to identify ideal team characteristics and establish a team-formation methodology; and iii) investigation of the hypothesis that improved team member collaboration enhances both team performance and learning. The approach taken is novel, evidence-based, and data-driven. The project’s planned “regression” approach to team formation uses data obtained directly from students deployed to work in teams for two years in normal classroom settings. Comprehensive data will be collected using variables that describe team inputs, processes, and outputs. A regression model will then be constructed in the third year to correlate input variables to desired outputs. Associations in the conceptual model will be tested through investigation of multiple hypotheses using validated instruments and appropriate statistical techniques. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.