TEAMWISE: Teamwork Evaluation for Assessing Mastery of Interdisciplinary Skills and Effectiveness

Collaboration plays a crucial role in engineering education and practice. In undergraduate engineering programs, laboratory courses provide students with frequent opportunities to engage in teamwork and tackle problems together. ABET Criteria emphasizes the development of effective teamwork skills as a goal for engineering programs, emphasizing the ability to function as part of a team, establish goals, plan tasks, and achieve objectives collaboratively. Undergraduate and graduate-level research experiences also heavily rely on students’ abilities to navigate complex interpersonal relationships, foster productive collaborations, and both learn from and mentor others. Collaborative learning has been proven to yield numerous benefits, including increased motivation, creativity, reflection, as well as the development of conceptual knowledge and communication skills. However, fostering positive and productive teamwork can be challenging for students, instructors, and advisors alike.

While teamwork has been studied in engineering education for many years, there are still significant knowledge gaps regarding best practices for teaching teamwork in engineering. Specifically, there is a lack of research on teamwork within academic research experiences, graduate-level research assistantships, and interdisciplinary teamwork. Moreover, there is limited consensus on the attributes that promote effective teamwork. Most critically, there is a lack of accessible, research-based assessment tools to evaluate gains in students’ teamwork knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) and inform evidence-based practices. Therefore, our research encompasses three main themes:

1. Developing a theoretical framework for engineering labs and research environments that describes the breadth of group outcomes and the measurable attributes contributing to them (Domain Analysis and Modeling).
2. Using evidence-centered design to develop an accessible assessment tool to evaluate teamwork outcomes in engineering labs (Assessment Framework, Implementation, and Delivery).
3. Developing effective teaching practices to promote positive teamwork outcomes and experiences, as well as providing teamwork and mentorship training for graduate students and faculty (Impact of the Assessment Tool).

Existing research on collaborative learning, particularly socially-shared regulated learning, has primarily relied on discourse analysis. While qualitative tools are crucial for developing theoretical frameworks and models, they are often impractical for instructors seeking to evaluate collaboration success in their classrooms. Moreover, existing teamwork skill assessments predominantly rely on self-reported gains, which can be subject to social-desirability bias. To address these limitations, an assessment tool specific to the unique environment of highly technical lab spaces is necessary. The development of a sophisticated teamwork assessment tool, such as a simulation-based assessment with interactive tasks measuring multidimensional proficiencies, is essential. This assessment tool will be built from the ground up using evidence-centered design (ECD), ensuring that the evidence gathered is interpreted based on the underlying knowledge and purposes the assessment aims to address.

The assessment tool will be administered in various classes to investigate the influence of educational interventions and mentorship practices on teamwork outcomes. By examining differences in outcomes among diverse student demographic populations, particularly those marginalized in engineering, we can address equity and inclusion concerns. Furthermore, we will evaluate the impact of regular metacognitive reflections on teamwork KSAs through both short-term and longitudinal studies, while also assessing the effectiveness of specific metacognitive tasks. The findings will inform new curricular practices, such as team formation strategies and the development of teamwork training for labs and research experiences. Additionally, this research will contribute to the enhancement and formulation of mentorship training programs for faculty, instructors, and teaching assistants.

To learn more about the TEAMWISE research project and or to join our efforts to advance engineering teamwork assessment, please reach out to Alexandra Werth for inquiries or further information.