Jamie Szwalek
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Jamie Szwalek
Jamie Szwalek
Jamie Szwalek joined the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering department at UIC in 2014 and finished her tenth year teaching Mechanical Engineering. She is clinical teaching faculty and enjoys teaching many courses such as dynamics, vibrations, machine design, intro to design, CAD, and experimental methods courses. She is interested in improving the teamwork skills of students so that course projects are more effective and fun.
Szwalek is a 2024-25 Action Research Scholar.
Jamie Szwalek
Jamie Szwalek
Mapping Teamwork Dynamics
Abstract
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This action research study on teamwork emphasizes implementing improvements or intervention at the same time as knowledge-gathering. To be successful in ME 250, students must work toward forming a collaborative team for their design project, but the challenge is that student teams are still developing their skills and struggle with teamwork. This poses many challenges for the instructor- what can instructors do in the classroom to create effective teams in a proactive way? In ME 250, the instructor poses reflection discussions during the project; the discussion time gives students a chance to speak up about how their team is functioning.
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It gives instructors a fast way to monitor the teams and guide them to be more effective while also giving them skills to identify their own team dynamics. This type of activity can be used in any type of team-based course. This study seeks to map the challenges that students face throughout the project. The goal is for the instructor to proactively influence team dynamics by giving “just in time” specific and actionable feedback. This can be done by having teams self-assess their team’s development and work toward addressing any challenges with their instructor’s guidance.
Project Information
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Design work in industry is done by engineering teams, so many engineering courses incorporate team-based projects to teach key skills such as teamwork, communication, and project management. Students develop a life skill vital to their future professional and personal development; the ability to interact in a positive and effective way with colleagues and coworkers (Oakley et al. 2004). The stakes are lower when working in student teams. In the professional world, individuals who do not pull weight on work teams eventually suffer consequences far worse than low grades (Kaufman et al. 2000).
Students in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering take Introduction to Engineering Design and Graphics (ME 250), which is a first year required course. The course is taught as a design studio class, where students work in instructor assigned teams of four to complete a six-week design project. Since this is their first time working in engineering teams, it sets the tone for teamwork in advanced courses, especially for the two-semester long design project in senior design.
In ME 250, students are still developing their skills, so they often struggle to work collaboratively in teams. Some students actively resist engaging in teamwork activities, making this even more challenging, especially if there is no acting team leader. Additionally, students may not fully understand the expectations for teamwork and the time commitment outside of class. In general, student teams do not have the skills to identify a problem, give constructive criticism, and fix any team dynamic problems.
Student teams can become collaborative if they are given impactful and actionable feedback from their instructor. However, this can be frustrating and time-consuming for instructors who teach team-based classes, especially when trying to monitor project progress and guide or assess the team dynamics to increase collaboration. What can be done? Instructors can teach in a strategic and reflective way that emphasizes the importance of teamwork and collaboration. For example, when team issues arise that are common to many teams, one approach is to hold a “crisis clinic” during class. The instructor provides a common scenario and asks the teams to brainstorm solutions for 10 minutes (Oakley et al. 2004). This takes practice- a crisis clinic should be run periodically several times during the semester. By the end of the semester, students learn how to deal with team issues by creating a list of potential solutions and choosing the best option; any students who are causing the problem are now aware that they will be identified. Before a crisis clinic can be run, the teams need to become self-aware of their team environment, and this can be done using reflection discussions.
This study addresses the challenges that instructors face when teaching team-based courses. The goal is to create effective (positive) team experiences that guide students to take ownership of creating and sustaining a collaborative team environment. Factors that promote effective teamwork are collaboration, inclusivity, participation, equitable work assignments, engaging all members of the team, and determining team strengths and growth areas. Ideally, the instructor serves as a guide to the team, rather than a manager, by providing “just in time “help. The first step is to build the teams carefully; teams can be diverse based on major, year, availability, and attitude toward teamwork. The second step is to build rapport, so students are comfortable voicing their opinions on a neutral topic before taking on the design project. The third step is for the instructor to set clear expectations about what teamwork entails and what good communication looks like in the course. The fourth step is for teams to come to a consensus about what they expect from each other, setting their “ground rules,” and writing them down in a team contract that they agree to follow. When issues arise, teams may be able to examine their team contract and solve the problem on their own, but typically this is not a common occurrence as they require more guidance.Instructors who have taught a team-based course multiple times may have an intuitive feel for what challenges the teams face. All teams develop through stages; successful teams work toward a performance goal, and successful teams adopt a common approach and standards [Gatchell et. al 2014]. To develop a common standard, the instructor can give the teams time in class to reflect on their performance, identify their challenges, and discuss potential solutions. The approach used in this study is a formal reflection activity where teams self-assess themselves. Instructors pose specific reflection discussion questions and give teams time to discuss and record their answers, with the key of repeating this each week of the project. This can motivate the teams to make changes to their team environment. The instructor can quickly review the reflections to identify the challenges and provide guidance to make the action plan specific and meaningful. Not all teams will face the same challenges – this gives each team a more personalized approach. This type of activity could be used in other classes for projects, not just engineering.
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- What are the challenges the teams are facing? Are there any common challenges that teams face during the project? How are challenges evolving with time? How are the teams developing?
This information will allow the instructor to determine if there are additional resources that can be provided to ensure teams have the necessary skills for teamwork. Later research would address the student’s perception to see if reflections contributed directly to a more positive teamwork experience and its effectiveness at creating a collaborative team environment.
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Gatchell, D. W., & Ankenman, B., & Hirsch, P. L., & Goodman, A., & Brown, K. (2014, June), Restructuring Teamwork Pedagogy in a First-Year Engineering Design Program: Lessons Learned and Future Plans Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana.
Kaufman, D.B., Felder, R.M., and Fuller, H., (2000) “Accounting for Individual Effort in Cooperative Learning Teams.” Journal of Engineering Education. 89(2), 133-140.
Oakley, B., R.M. Felder, R. Brent, and I. Elhajj, (2004) “Turning Student Groups into EffectiveTeams,” Journal of Student-Centered Learning, vol. 2, no. 1, 2004, pp. 8–33.