Teaching and Assessing Teamwork in Engineering and Computer
Science
Robert W. Lingard
California State University, Northridge
Northridge, CA 91330-8281
ABSTRACT
Teamwork is an identified student outcome for
Engineering and Computer Science students, but
most programs don’t teach students how to work
in teams.
Keywords: Teamwork, assessment
1. INTRODUCTION
Although it is commonly recognized by educators and
scholars alike that to be successful in today’s
workplace, high levels of teamwork and
communication skills are necessary, instruction in
these areas in Engineering and Computer Science is
minimal, if undertaken at all. During the past four
semesters, we have introduced students to the study of
group process and have assessed the value of such
instruction. In designated sections of Computer
Science 380, "An Introduction to Software
Engineering," we provided some specific, but limited
instruction in group communication and administered
the Kolbe A Index.1 The Kolbe A Index is an
instrument that measures conation, or a person’s
inherent talent or natural way of doing things and
predicts what a person will or will not do, given the
freedom to act. Widely used in the corporate world,
the Kolbe A Index is valuable method for putting
together synergistic teams.
It has long been recognized that engineering and
computer science students need to learn
communication and collaboration skills. In his 1992
article on "Educating a New Engineer," Peter Denning
states that "a student must learn not only the technical
side of engineering, but also skills of listening,
completing and communicating."2 Although engineers
and computer professionals are stereotypically viewed
as introverted independent specialists, it is important
that students in these fields "learn the skills for
working effectively as members of groups."2
More recently ABET has emphasized both
communication and teamwork skills in the 2000-2001
criteria for accrediting engineering programs.
Specifically, the guidelines state that "engineering
programs must demonstrate that their graduates have .
. . an ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams . .
. [and] an ability to communicate effectively."3
Unfortunately, as Simon McGinnes states in regard to
teaching information technology, "the skills of
communication and collaboration . . . have often been
undervalued in computing courses."4 Similarly, Karl
Smith observes that in engineering courses, "seldom is
there explicit attention paid to helping students
develop teamwork and project management skills."5
Although many universities have recognized the need
to assign group projects and have begun efforts to
improve engineering and computer science curricula
in this regard, students seldom receive any training on
how to function collaboratively before such
assignments are given, and little attention is given to
how teams are formed. Consequently, teams often fail
to function effectively. Furthermore, students do not
learn much from participating on dysfunctional teams
and often develop negative views about the value of
teamwork.6
Simply assigning more team projects is not sufficient
in addressing the need for students to learn teamwork
skills. In order for students to benefit from these team
projects, efforts must be made to ensure that the teams
are well formed and given the knowledge and tools
necessary to operate effectively.
This paper summarizes the recent activities associated
with attempts to improve group project experiences
among software engineering students at CSU,
Northridge. The study described draws on data
collected over the last three years regarding team
composition and team achievement for students in an
introductory course in software engineering. In
particular, this study looks at gender, age, cultural
diversity, group viability, and previous work
experience in the field of software engineering as
potential factors influencing team achievement.
Additionally, the degree to which work is equitably
shared among team members is evaluated as a factor
contributing to success.
Some background and
motivational material are provided along with a
summary of previous results. The approach taken and
the important results from the current effort are
described. Based on the study results, some guidelines
are outlined for team formation and suggestions are
made for designing effective assignments to enhance
the teamwork skills of students.
2. BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION
It has long been recognized that engineering and
computer science students need to learn
communication and collaboration skills. In his 1992
article on "Educating a New Engineer," Peter Denning
observed that employers felt that new hires did not
know how to communicate and that they had
insufficient experience and preparation for working as
part of a team [1].
Unfortunately, as Simon McGinnes states in regard to
teaching information technology, "the skills of
communication and collaboration . . . have often been
undervalued in computing courses." [2] "Computer
science education too often focuses on individual
contributions rather than on managed group efforts
that depend on defined standards, methodologies, and
software processes; however, such groups are the
norm in the software industry," according to Hilburn
and Bagert. [3]
Although many universities have recognized the need
to assign group projects and have begun efforts to
improve engineering and computer science curricula
in this regard, students seldom receive any training on
how to function collaboratively before such
assignments are given, and little attention is given to
how teams are formed. Consequently, teams often fail
to function effectively. Students do not learn much
from participating on dysfunctional teams and often
develop negative views about the value of teamwork.
[4]
Simply assigning more team projects is not sufficient
in addressing the need for students to learn teamwork
skills. In order for students to benefit from these team
projects, efforts must be made to ensure that the teams
are well formed and given the knowledge and tools
necessary to operate effectively.
3. RESULTS
First, the results showed a correlation between the
teams' ratings of their effectiveness and the scores on
the projects. The correlation was statistically
significant at the 0.025 level [r(21) = 0.451, p <
0.025]. This is consistent with other studies, such as
one at Brigham Young University (BYU) described by
Swan [4], which showed that team process
effectiveness was the major factor accounting for the
success of group projects.
This suggests the
importance of teaching group process skills as part of
the regular curriculum.
Team Name
F98-C
S00-4
F98-5
F98-F
F98-E
F99-A
F99-C
S99-2
TABLE I
Study Results
Project Score
95.5%
91.5%
90.5%
90.5%
90.0%
90.0%
89.3%
88.0%
Effective ness
4
4.5
4.5
4
3
4
3.75
4.25
S00-1
S99-E
S99-D
S00-7
F99-1
S00-6
S99-5
F99-3
S00-2
F99-2
S99-3
F99-B
F98-B
S99-A
S99-B
F98-A
S99-4
F98-2
F99-D
F98-4
S99-1
F99-E
F99-F
S99-7
S00-3
F98-D
S99-C
S99-6
F98-1
S00-5
F98-3
88.0%
86.5%
85.5%
85.5%
85.3%
85.0%
84.0%
84.0%
83.5%
82.7%
82.5%
82.0%
81.5%
81.0%
80.5%
80.0%
79.5%
79.0%
78.7%
78.5%
78.0%
78.0%
76.0%
75.0%
74.0%
73.5%
73.5%
72.5%
71.0%
67.0%
66.0%
4.25
4.2
4.4
3.8
4
4.5
3.8
4.5
4.25
4
4
3.8
3
4.4
2.33
4.5
3.6
4
4.8
2.75
4
4.8
4.25
4
2.6
3.33
3.5
3.5
3.67
2.5
2.33
One part of the survey given to students at the end of
the semester asks them to evaluate the other members
of their team. In particular, one question asks them to
rate each team member’s contribution to the team
project as a percentage of the total effort. That is, they
are to give each team member, including themselves, a
value from 0% to 100% such that the sum of such
numbers is 100%. If a student felt that all members of
the team contributed equally, a value of 20% might be
given to each person on a five person team.
A measure of equality of participation was calculated
as minus the variance of the average scores of the
individuals on a team. That is, the scores each team
member received from the other members of the team
were averaged and the variance among these average
scores was calculated. Since the greater the variance
the more unequal was the participation among team
members, the variance was negated to serve as a
measure of equality of participation.
This measure of participation correlates significantly
with project scores [r(37) = 0.3276, p < 0.025].
Additionally, this measure correlates even more
significantly with the teams' self ratings of their
effectiveness [r(37) = 0.4691, p < 0.005]. This last
results probably reflects the fact that team members
see a relationship between team ineffectiveness and a
lack of participation by one or more team members.
Overall, these results suggest that team success might
be increased if better participation among the team
members could be achieved. The next section
discusses teaching strategies to encourage greater
participation by all team members during group
assignments.
4. CONCLUSIONS
Serious attention should be devoted to teaching
teamwork skills in engineering and computer science
education.
The
importance
of
teaching
communication and teamwork skills in engineering
and computer science is well understood, but finding
effective teaching strategies is challenging. Our earlier
work demonstrated the value of carefully choosing
teams to maximize synergy, but analysis of the natural
action modes of software engineering students using
the Kolbe instrument has shown that this collection of
individuals lacks some of the problem solving
approaches needed for productive synergistic teams.
The challenge is to find ways of teaching some of the
necessary group communication skills that may not
come naturally for this group of students.
As we continue to explore effective pedagogy for
improving the communication and teamwork skills of
engineering and computer science students, we will
design assignments that are practical and realistic. Use
of the Kolbe index has provided an excellent positive
way to raise students’ awareness of their potential as
well as their need to understand others’ ways of doing
things. When people strive toward a goal using their
natural talents they will function most productively.
We must design assignments that take advantage of
their natural talents and encourage them to explore
ways of expanding their capabilities.
5. REFERENCES
[1] Robert Lingard, “Teamwork”,