Gateway Engineering Education Coalition1 Forming Teams or How to mix things up a bit…

Gateway Engineering Education Coalition 1

Forming Teams

or

How to mix things up a bit…


Topics

Introduction to forming teams

Team selection criteria

Forming teams in practice

Summary


Intro to Forming Teams

Items to consider when forming teams

Project scope

Skills required for the project

Skills provided by the group members

Relative importance of exposure to varying group dynamics



Project scope

Duration – How long will the team be working together?

Size – How much work needs to be done?

Complexity – How varied/specialized are the tasks that need to be done?



Project skills

What skills are needed?

What skills are supplied?

Do the provided skills match well with the required skills?

If not, can they be learned while the project is underway?



Group dynamics

How important is exposure to different learning/working/personality styles?

How important is learning to function in different team environments?

Importance likely related to project duration and frequency



Once the scope, necessary skills, and importance of exposure to different group dynamics are determined, then a method for creating the groups can be considered that best fits the project.


Methods of Forming TeamsSome common methods:

Random

Student Selected

Instructor Selected

Learning Styles or Personality Types

Majors or Background of Students

Gender and Race


Random

How to:

Count off by numbers

Make a randomized list

Draw names from a hat, etc.

Assign teams a place to work together


RandomPros:Forming teams requires little timePotential for diverse styles – working,

learning, personalityOpportunity to generate new partnerships.

Cons:Teams may be slow to startRandom assignment does not guarantee

diversity of styles


Student Selected

How to:

Give the students a few minutes to decide on teams

Make sure no one is left over


Student SelectedPros: Because students often choose to work with

people who are familiar to them, this method can allow teams to “auto start” quickly

Cons: May develop “super groups” of stronger students Tending toward the familiar potentially reduces

student exposure to various forms of diversity – learning, personality, and working styles, backgrounds, gender, race, age


Instructor Selected

Instructor chooses teams based on various criteria that could include one or more of the following:

Learning/Personality StylesGeography (Classroom and Residence)Gender/Race/AgeStudent Majors/BackgroundsStudent Input


Learning/Personality Styles

Pros:Students benefit from group members

having complementary styles.

Cons:Testing can be time consuming and

expensive. Developing balanced teams may be time

intensive


Learning/Personality Styles

A free alternative to expensive learning styles testing is available

Developed by Barbara A. Soloman and Richard M. Felder of North Carolina State University

http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/ILSpage.html


Geography (Classroom)

Pros: Team formation requires little planning. Students don’t have to move which saves

time

Cons: If people generally sit in the same area, it

may result in the same people working together.


Geography (Residence)

Pros: Minimizes travel time/inconvenience for

group work outside of class.

Cons:May conflict with other criteria such as

ensuring the requisite skill sets are brought to the project


Diversity Gender/Race/Age

When forming teams in which one of the goals is to expose group members to those who differ in gender, race, or age, it is advisable to pair minority group members in order to strengthen their voice and prevent them from being made to feel even more of a minority.


Diversity Gender/Race/AgePros: Students become more adept at

overcoming racial, gender, and cultural differences.

Cons: Maintaining an even distribution may

prevent minority students from ever working together.

Racial, gender, and age mixing may seem heavy-handed to students.


Major/Background of Students

Pros: Allows teams to be balanced in terms of

areas of study and backgrounds

Cons:Groups can only be as diverse as the class

allowsNot all projects require all skill sets.


Instructor Selected with Input

In this method student input is requested regarding with whom they would and would not choose to work.

The instructor can then factor student choice, along with the various other criteria, into team formation.


Instructor Selected with Input

Three general combinations are possible

Yes – YesYes – NoNo – No


Yes – Yes

When you get these combinations, you find that your teams start quickly to get the team project done.


Yes – YesPros: Teams can “self-start” quickly given that

members are already acquainted and desire to work together.

Cons:Comfort level with team members may not

challenge students to improve their interaction and conflict resolution skills

Potential for the team to become overly social


Yes – No

The Yes-No method allows students to work with:

At least one person they wantNo one they do not want


Yes – NoPros: Students get to work with at least one person of

their choosing. Conflict is reduced by keeping counter-

personalities apart. Well suited for long term teams

Cons: This method requires significant planning and

iteration by the instructor to decide groups. Ideally, students should have prior experience with

many of their classmates in order to accurately make judgments.


No – No

The No-No method forces students to work with people with whom they would ideally choose not to work.


No – NoPros: Well suited for teaching students how to

make bad teams work. Students gain experience/skills in working

with polarized personalities.

Cons:Some instructor intensive choices are

required for team formation.This team forming method is typically only

suitable for short-term projects.


Team Forming in Practice

In practice, there are many things to consider when deciding what methods to use to form teams:Goal of the teamDuration of the projectDesired diversityHow well you want the students to match

up


Team Forming in Practice

Remember, many of these methods are not mutually exclusive and may work best as a subset of another plan.


Summary

We’ve shown:

Several team formation methods that should help augment the instructor’s toolset.

The pros and cons of each method so that intelligent and appropriate selection can be made.


Q & A

Documents

Gateway Engineering Education Coalition1 Forming Teams or How to mix things up a bit…