2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This GIFTS paper describes a novel approach to introducing and assessing teamwork in a first-year engineering program. Teamwork is a fundamental element of ABET accreditation which requires engineering programs to demonstrate and assess their commitment to fostering teamwork skills in students. This first-year engineering communications course aims to address this ABET criteria, as well as satisfy the university’s written composition general education requirement. As part of the general education requirement, students must engage in researching a topic, constructing a well-structured argument with supporting evidence, and demonstrating effective college-level written communication that can inform, persuade, or engage with a specific audience. Additionally, students will showcase proficiency in revising and enhancing their written communication skills throughout the process. A previous assignment designed for these purposes required students to research “teamwork” and write a 5-page essay on it during the first few weeks of their college career. This assignment failed to convey the true importance of teamwork skills and the relevance to their own teaming situation, resulting in the sense that it was only busy work assigned to satisfy the general education requirement. The main objectives of the new assignment are to improve both cognition, or the core mental processes required for productive teamwork, and metacognition which involves empowering individuals and teams to monitor, evaluate, and adjust their cognitive strategies; the result ultimately contributing to the development of effective team skills and improved team performance. To do this, students are engaged in a semester-long process of applying and assessing team skills. They report this information as it becomes relevant by writing a “Teamwork Report” in three phases throughout the semester. Phase 1 is assigned the first week and includes an APA-formatted title page and an introduction to teamwork. In this phase, students are given a list of teamwork resources and use them to write about which characteristics make for a good team and team member. Additionally, students take the High5 Test (strengths test) and share their top five strengths with their team members. Although these characteristics are advertised as strengths, they can have a negative impact if left unchecked or are not expressed in conjunction with other team members’ strengths; therefore, students also hypothesize how their own strengths may help and hinder teamwork and how their team members’ strengths may help and hinder teamwork. Project teams are required to complete two projects during the semester, and Phase 2 is assigned between those two projects. At this point, teams have a team debrief for roughly 45 minutes during class time where they systematically give and receive feedback to each team member. Students come to class prepared with discussion points and in the proper mindset to have difficult and respectful discussions. Afterward, students complete an action plan where they identify team skills they want to improve and develop a plan to work towards that goal. Moreover, students take the Jung Typology Test (personality test) and discuss their results, including communication tips, with their team. Using this information, students write Phase 2 which describes all the methods used to assess teamwork and personal development, as well as the results section explaining how the initial hypotheses were supported or contradicted using evidence from the first project, their action plan, and their personality test results with strategies to improve their communication during the second project. Phase 3 is introduced after the second project is complete and requires teams to have one more team debrief. They discuss and report changes in their teamwork between the two projects, changes to their personal teamwork skills, and their self-perception versus the perception of their teammates. They end by writing a conclusion where they summarize how their self-awareness and understanding of others changed throughout the process and how this exercise can help them in the future. A references page for the entire report is also included in Phase 3. Students have two weeks to complete Phase 1 and Phase 2 and one week to complete Phase 3. All three phases are graded on content, format, composition, and proper use of citations using a detailed set of guidelines and rubrics. A template and in-text and reference page citations are given for the provided teamwork sources, as formatting of documents and references are taught at a later point in the program. All materials are available to instructors and students throughout the semester.