2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Teaching Conflict Management for Teamwork

Presented at ME Division 11: Beyond the Build: Communication, Collaboration, and Reflection

Teamwork ability, a highly recognized soft skill in the engineering profession, is a topic of paramount importance. However, our current engineering curriculum lacks the necessary guidance to help our students develop this critical skill. Literature suggests three critical aspects of teamwork – (1) understanding team development stages and managing expectations, (2) communicating effectively within and between the team settings, and (3) managing conflicts with professionalism. Recognizing these unmet needs, we have been working on developing workshop-style lecture modules across our engineering curriculum. We have developed lecture modules regarding the first two aspects of teamwork in our sophomore and junior courses over a two-year period. This work-in-progress focuses on developing awareness regarding possible reasons for conflicts arising in team settings and their management. We deployed this lecture module in the spring of 2024 for the first time in a senior-level mechanical engineering course.

In this conflict management module, we utilize several well-recognized tools that are not just theoretical concepts, but practical techniques that students can apply in real-life situations. First, we start with a roleplaying activity where students are assigned different character traits to showcase a conflict with healthy and unhealthy aspects. Keeping this activity in mind, we introduce the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI). The TKI helps students develop awareness of different conflict management strategies and when one strategy could be more effective than another. We teach that collaboration is the ultimate goal for important projects and tasks, but each strategy has its use. Then, we introduce the STATE method, a structured framework for communication that emphasizes sharing facts and perspectives without personal attacks or judgement to ultimately find a solution and move forward. Students could use this technique to mitigate conflicts, build stronger relationships, and resolve conflicts more effectively. Finally, we introduce the Dutch Test, a set of personality questions to identify their default TKI strategy. This gives students an introspective look of their behavior as we re-emphasize that their default mode may not always be the best strategy.

The post-lecture reflection survey from spring 2024 showed positive responses from the students. For the rest of the semester, students worked on a class project and completed a team experience survey. We plan to share initial results by comparing this semester’s survey results to a baseline group that did not participate any of the three lecture modules we developed. This is the last module of the UNITES teamwork development effort. Our next attempt will be to analyze the effectiveness and impacts of the three modules as a whole on improving undergraduate engineering students’ teamwork skills. We will continuously refine and enhance our modules as part of our commitment to providing high-quality education and future workforce development.

Authors

Dr. Jonathan Weaver-Rosen http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1087-5452 Texas A&M University [biography]

Jonathan Weaver-Rosen is an Instructional Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. His research has focused largely on design automation and methodologies – specifically parametric optimization and the design of morphing or otherwise adaptive systems. His passion for teaching lies in preparing future design engineers to properly utilize analysis tools and work effectively as part of a team.
Dr. Shadi Balawi Texas A&M University [biography]

Dr. Balawi is an Instructional Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering department at Texas A&M. He teaches in the areas of materials, manufacturing, and design. His interests are in the areas of Engineering Design for Disciplinary STEM Educational Research, Team Formation and Team Skill Education. Dr. Balawi earned his PhD in Aerospace Engineering from University of Cincinnati with research focus on experimental design and testing of solids for honeycomb core materials.
Mohammad Waqar Mohiuddin [biography]

Possesses a multidisciplinary background in Mechanical Engineering (BS and MS) and cardiovascular physiology (Ph.D.). Currently working as an Instructional Assistant Professor in the J Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University. Areas of expertise and interest include biomedical and mechanical system design, electromechanical systems, computer-aided engineering analysis, and mathematical modeling of physiological systems. Before joining Texas A&M, worked in industry settings to develop various biomedical technologies, ranging from acute neonatal care to long-term space exploration.
Dr. Joanna Tsenn Texas A&M University [biography]

Joanna Tsenn is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the J. MikeWalker ’66 Department of Mechanical
Engineering at Texas A&M University. She earned her B.S. from the University of Texas at Austin and
her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University. She coordinates the mechanical engineering senior capstone
design projects and teaches senior design lectures and studios. Her research interests include engineering
education and engineering design methodology.
Dr. Carlos R. Corleto P.E. Texas A&M University [biography]

BS, MS, PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University. Experience includes 20 years in industry as a lab director, technical manager and engineering advisor, 8 years of academic experience at the assistant and tenured associate professor level, 4.5 years as a professor of practice, Undergraduate Program Director of the J. M. Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering since June 2022, and active industry consultant. Author and contributing author of 10 patents and multiple publications/presentations at technical and engineering education conferences. Areas of expertise and research interest include, Deformation & Failure Mechanisms, Materials Science, Fracture Mechanics, Process-Structure-Property Relationships, Finite Element Stress Analysis Modeling & Failure Analysis, ASME BPV Code Sec VIII Div. 1 & 2, API 579/ASME FFS-1 Code, Materials Testing and Engineering Education. Professionally registered engineer in the State of Texas (PE).

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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