Collaborative Research: Research: Collaboration in Engineering Practitioner and Student Teams: A Study of Beliefs about Effective Behaviors

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Effective collaboration is a key aspect of engineering learning and practice. Researchers in the field of engineering education have put considerable attention on understanding the nature of team behaviors, structures, and dynamics and their effects on design quality and problem solutions. However, we know little about why engineers choose to perform collaborative behaviors or not. This project aims to uncover 1) similarities and differences between engineering students and practitioners in the performance of effective team behaviors, 2) understand the reasons why engineering students and practitioners choose to perform particular effective behaviors or not when working in engineering design teams, and 3) examine similarities and differences between engineering students and practitioners in their reasons for choosing to perform particular behaviors or not . Effective team behaviors in collaboration settings are central to any engineer’s formation as a professional. This project will 1) identify which effective team behaviors are performed least frequently by students and practitioners in engineering design teams (target behaviors), and 2) characterize why a diverse sample of engineers chooses to perform those behaviors or not. The project findings will provide necessary insight into how to support engineers to become even more effective collaborators in both academic and professional contexts. Also, research products will enhance understanding of how engineers' collaborative behaviors (and reasons for performing particular behaviors or not) are similar or different in school and work contexts. Extending the current literature, we will provide a nuanced characterization of why the target behaviors are not performed in engineering teams, focused at the level of individual beliefs and also considering the role of social, cultural, and political factors that inherently matter in design teams.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.