Classroom Team Work Assignment Help
Introduction:
Traditionally, as pointed out by Howard in 1999, students around the globe have perceived success by means of competition rather than achieving it through the philosophy of collaboration; or independence in place of interdependence. Thus, students who have spent a life time competing against their cohorts find the concept of teamwork confusing when entering in the practical work place. Furthermore, education at all levels have seen a paradigm shift from instructive to constructive pedagogy, thus subsequently pushing educators to incorporate wide variety of teaching methodologies in order to prepare their students for the competitive world outside. As a result, learning pedagogy through teamwork activities and team based approaches has gained significant importance recently. Some of these approaches may include project based, problem-scenario based or case based and can be selected depending on the situation and expected outcome (Oliver, 2001). Current educational approaches thus find it necessary to incorporate team based learning methodologies that can incorporate collaborative and collective efforts. As contributed by Johnston and Johnston (2005), students should be involved in a learning environment that endorses real learning in real context preparing them for the real life challenges. According to the authors, teamwork and team based learning advocate students to engage in a learning process through interpersonal interaction, effective problem solving techniques, dialogues and discussions with cooperation and collaboration. Also, as noted by Davis and Miller (1996), learning methods incorporating skillful guidance, educators can serve as a cornerstone in allowing students to develop skills that are necessary to work as a successful team player and be a productive and effective part of a team. Also, the education providers should not assume the fact that students without proper effort can self-acquire knowledge, skills and understanding that is required to create a synergetic team environment. This essay will attempt to discuss briefly the importance of teamwork in classroom along with the methods through which teachers can promote team based learning in a classroom. The author has included his reflection throughout the essay discussing a team based learning experiences during his undergraduate degree.
Team Based Learning:
Teamwork has been defined by many authors in different ways. However, Scarnati (2001, p5) has outlined the significance of teamwork as “as a cooperative process that allows ordinary people to achieve extraordinary results”. However, Harris and Harris (1996) briefed the logic behind team building is as to achieve a common goal where members of the group develop effective and mutual relationships and working together in collaboration towards a common purpose through sharing of skills and knowledge creating synergies. The importance of teamwork in classroom has been explained by Bird in 1989. The author presented the idea that synergy can be referred to as a function brought together by the expertise, background, skills, resources and strengths of individual team members. Furthermore, Bird suggested that another step ahead in creating synergies depend on the ability to complement skills and abilities of teams members as well as the how well skills are organized within the team. The author noted that the idea behind team based approach is that complex tasks are divided and broken down among individuals according to their competencies and strengths, minimizing obstacles and a clear approach towards effort for continuation of assignment. Team based learning also being referred as collaborative learning in classroom has a two prong learning outcome. The students involved in this methodology are expected to deliver on two objectives. Firstly, they are required to develop in depth understanding of the subject matter related to the course itself. Secondly, students are expected to learn about the others engaged in learning with those (Major, 2005).
Rationale to Promote Team Based Learning in Classroom:
As argued by Ravensoft et al (1995), students may actively use the term group in referring to a team based project; however, they fail to recognize the significance in working together in cooperation to achieve a collective yet common goal. Students working in a team who fail to realize this may eventually prioritize their individual goals over their team objectives and thus may not result as an effective member of the team. Howard (1999) presented a framework for educators to follow in order to promote teamwork among students. The guidelines can serve pivotal in applying team based learning methodology to students.
Promoting Teamwork by Teachers in Class Rooms: As suggested by Howard (1999), a number of options are available with teachers to promote teamwork in classes. The author has presented some tactics, however, there is no single rule of thumb. For instance, teachers can
- Encourage class room discussions where students should be given the option to share their teamwork experiences along with their views on the importance of collective effort. Students that have previously been involved in team work activities in their classes; work places should be given an opportunity to share firsthand information and insights for fellow cohorts (Howard, 1999).
- Teachers may require students to research articles and real life cases in which work places have benefitted when working in teams. Students should be given the option to reflect on their findings on case to case basis. Further, they should be given the opportunity to provide feedback of their findings (Howard, 1999).
- Students in class who belong to sports or are athletes should be given the opportunity to discuss the concept of team work as it is applied to sports. For instance, in team sports, each member is selected based on his position and strength in the team. Furthermore, students should share their experiences when they feel team goal is more important than achieving individual objectives. For example, a basketball player who is an expert to shoot may at times be required to pass on the ball to a fellow player who is left un-guarded in order to have a better chance of scoring. Thus the player instead of earning a point in his name keeps team score ahead as an objective (Howard, 1999).
- Assign team based projects by dividing class into smaller groups. There are a number of activities that can be assigned to students and that have been discussed in literature throughout. However, the objective behind each activity is to build group cohesiveness. Students should be encouraged to speak to professionals that are involved in team works in organizations and they may be asked to interview team players on a number of dimensions such as accountability in teams, responsibility sharing in teams, motivational factors in teamwork etc. (Howard, 1999). Furthermore, professionals from business world may be asked to visit lectures as guest speakers and share their experiences in working within a team (Howard, 1999).
Personal Reflection: In one of our lectures during the undergraduate degree, the instructor who called upon a project leader for a team working in a project shared his experience with the class. The guest was involved in launching a new business line in the company, and was responsible to head a team having experts from different segments of information technology. The guest’s personal experience gave us insights that how team members need to collectively put efforts to achieve a common goal. Further, the guest also shared the contingency and conflict plan. For instance, one of his team members was not performing his assigned responsibilities. This was becoming a demotivating factor for rest of the team. Therefore, after giving a few warnings, the member was replaced.
Formation of Teams in Classrooms: The most integral and important part of team based learning is the formation of teams in classrooms. According to Howard (1999), the size of the team is contingent on the amount, complexity and the type of work that is expected out of students. Too large of a team can eventually lead to members being bored or frustrated. Subsequently, size of the team should be carrying enough members to handle the responsibilities optimally. Howard (1999) further recommends that a size of two to seven members team in a classroom is desirable. Furthermore, an odd counting of members may result in resolving conflicts if arise at a later time. Michaelsen (2002) further suggested that groups should be formed that minimize barriers to cohesiveness. For instance, previously formed relationships may result in hindrance of creating unified teams. Furthermore, Michaelsen added that instructors should invest in identifying strengths and weaknesses of students before forming groups. Skills identification shall allow the instructor to uniformly distribute resources i.e. skills among each team. Reasons for forming project based teams should be clearly communicated to students as this shall allow them to have an understanding of rationality of team formation.
Personal Reflection: I was given a team based project for a course during the under graduate degree. There were a total of 35 students that opted for the course during the term. After the first classroom session, the instructor briefed us about the final course work. We had to develop a business plan for a newly formed company. However, the instructor was clearly of the idea that the objective of this assignment was not just to evaluate how well a business plan is presented, rather, it was expected of the students to work in collaboration with each other in order to achieve a common objective. The students were required to submit a weekly update on not only the idea and progress on the business plan, but also a reflection on how the group tasks were distributed and handled by the team members. As far as the creation of groups was concerned, the instructor suggested that we should form 7 teams comprising of 5 members each. Next, he suggested that we should give a brief introduction of ourselves along with the strengths and preference in terms of opting for a career path. An interesting instruction passed by the teacher was to give a brief introduction about the person sitting next to the students. As a result, instructors gained an idea about previously formed relationships in the classroom. Therefore, in the second session, rather than asking the students to form groups, the instructor handed over the details of each group. Students that were previously acquainted or were in a different relationship such as boyfriend/girl friend or from the same back ground country were specifically kept in separate groups. This resulted in creating cohesiveness among group members where they felt that each person is on the same wavelength. Furthermore, the teams formed with members having distinctive skills and preferences such as each group consisted of a member strong in financial management, while others having strength in marketing or human resource management disciplines.
Accountability, Conflict and Authority in Classroom Teamwork: As discussed earlier, the objective of team based learning is to prepare students for realistic workplace situations. However, Fredrick (2008) identified two contrasting factors that differentiate classroom teams from real work place teams. According to Fredrick, the classroom hierarchy leaves teachers in authority over students and thus, students are left in a horizontal plane with no explicit authority over each other which usually are not the case in work places. Furthermore, students are obliged to maintain socially based non-hierarchical relationships even in team assignments. Secondly, as stated earlier, Fredrick suggested that individual goals such as grade point average and results are primary objective of students. Students are expected to deliver on an individual scale and evaluated based on the criteria which hampers the objective of collaborative learning. These factors also result in teams ending up in conflicts. In order to overcome these obstacles, Howard (1999) suggested that accountability and responsibility should be defined for each team member. Since teachers are considered as an authority in classroom, they should be responsible for setting up directives, policies, and team agreements in consensus with the students. Students should realize that they are expected to meet timelines, perform assigned tasks in a timely manner, attend meetings and follow the directives and instructions of team leader if any. Howard (1999) continued that if student is not able to attend a meeting, he or she should inform the group in prior and explain the problem. Furthermore, delegated tasks should be completed despite other commitments as this may impact the overall outcome of the team performance. Finally, self and peer evaluation should be conducted at regular intervals in team. The assessment should be backed by evidence in order to generate credibility and trust among the members. Evaluation sheets also allow tracking the progress of the project (Howard, 1999).
Personal Reflection: For the project discussed above, the students appointed me as the team leader based on a consensus. I was responsible for delegating assignments to the students and taking continuous feedback. Same was then shared with our instructor who was also keeping a track of group performance. The only conflict that we faced in 8 weeks project was working with a team member who was partly working in a retail outlet to support his studies. His major responsibility was to complete and prepare the marketing plan because of his expertise. However, the team started to feel frustrated when the particular individual missed out on first few meetings due to his commitments at job. In order to resolve the conflicts, I called up a team meeting at a mutually convenient time. Once everyone was available, I asked the particular individual that the team is feeling pressurized. The individual shared his version and personal limitations to support his family and studies. In order to come to a resolution, I asked him to share his next two weeks working roaster. On doing that, the whole team agreed to meet at mutually convenient times. Thus after that, the whole project was completed successfully.
Conclusion:
Hartley (2005) suggested that the nature of classroom based teamwork is distinctive from that of commercial/organizational teams and this has been agreed upon by theorists and professionals. The author further noted that while problem solving methodologies and getting along with team members are required in all the group settings, however, the difference resides in understanding the structure of team groups in students. Hartley argues that the introducing teamwork in course curriculum is a challenging task, however, if all the stakeholders including students, professionals and teachers are involved in the process of conceptualizing team based learning, the end objective can be easily achieved. Therefore, the responsibility should be shared between educators and professionals to equip students with necessary skills that shall prepare them for future careers. Furthermore, educators and teachers should be aware of the fact that based on the difference in level of education, type of education and background, the extent to which individual students and group of students respond to team based collaborative learning approach will vary. Students that are previously used to more instructive based learning will respond differently when asked to participate collectively in activities (Huntington, 2005). Consequently, collective learning methods may impede overall learning rather than achieving desired results. To conclude, Wlodkowski (1998) remarked on the view that in order to keep students motivated and engaged actively in learning, teachers should take hands on responsibility to promote relevant teamwork skills in classrooms that are required of employers in today’s competitive world.
References:
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Scarnati, J. T. (2001). On becoming a team player. Team Performance Management: An International Journal, 7(1/2), 5-10.
Wlodkowski, R. J. (1998). Strategies to enhance adult motivation to learn. In M. W. Galbraith (Ed.), Adult learning methods, (91-112). New York: Krieger Publishing Company.
