A Conceptual Framework and a Research Roadmap Towards Enhancing Team Working in Engineering Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun Takai ◽  
Marcos Esterman
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Team Effectiveness ◽  
Team Member ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Design Team ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Effectiveness Model ◽  
Form Design

Abstract While design processes have been studied for many years, relationships among design team characteristics, teamwork, and team performance have not yet been fully understood. As such, there is no consensus on how to form design teams or enhance teamwork. In this paper, we propose a conceptual design-team effectiveness model based on team effectiveness theory in which we divide team process into two components: team member collaboration and design process. Built on this model, we then present a six-step research roadmap towards enhancing teamwork in engineering education by 1) improving methodology to form design teams and 2) finding a team-building design exercise to promote team member collaboration. We propose to improve team formation methodology by 1) comprehensively studying associations among team factors and team performance and 2) investigating how associations among team factors and team performance change with team-building design exercises. Together, we expect both team performance and team member collaboration to improve, which should lead to a better teamwork experience in engineering education.

A Power Analysis to Determine Appropriate Sample Size for the Study of Student Design-Team Effectiveness

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun Takai ◽  
Thomas J. Smith ◽  
Marcos Esterman
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Power Analysis ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Team Effectiveness ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Effectiveness Model ◽  
Student Teams ◽  
Team Project

Abstract Forming collaborative teams is a critical first step in team-project-based design courses as team composition directly affects not only teamwork processes and outcomes but also teamwork skills and experience. While various approaches have been used to form teams, the best methodology has not been found due to a lack of understanding of how team compositions impact team performance and teamwork learning. We need to establish a team effectiveness model for student design teams that describes relationships between team characteristics and team performance or teamwork learning. One of many challenges in such an effort is to estimate an appropriate sample size to achieve statistically significant results before starting data collection. In this paper, we demonstrate a power analysis for determining an appropriate sample size, i.e., the number of student teams, before we study the effectiveness of student design-teams. We first present a hypothesized team effectiveness model for student design teams that shows possible relationships among team factors. We then illustrate a statistical analysis procedure for studying the team effectiveness model using structural equation modeling (SEM) or path analysis. We finally demonstrate a power analysis of SEM for determining the appropriate sample size for studying the team effectiveness model.

Integral Design: The Reflective Morphological Overview

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wim Zeiler ◽  
Perica Savanovic ◽  
Emile Quanjel
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Information Exchange ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Design Team ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Complex Process ◽  
Dutch Association ◽  
Building Physics

Integral Building Design is done by multi disciplinary design teams and aims at integrating all aspects from the different disciplines involved in a design for a building such as; archtitecture, construction, building physics and building services. It involves information exchange between participants within the design process in amounts not yet known before. To support this highly complex process an Integral Building Design methods is developed based on the combination of a prescriptive approach, Methodical Design, and a descriptive approach, Reflective practice. Starting from the Methodical Design approach by van den Kroonenberg, a more reflective approach is developed. The use of Integral Design within the design process results in a transparency on the taken design steps and the design decisions. Within the design process, the extended prescriptive methodology is used as a framework for reflection on design process itself. To ensure a good information exchange between different disciplines during the conceptual phase of design a functional structuring technique can be used; Morphological Overviews (MO). Morphology provides a structure to give an overview of the consider functions and their solution alternatives. By using this method it is presumed that it helps to structure the communication between the design team members and a such forms a basis for reflection on the design results by the design team members. This method is used in the education program at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven and was tested in workshops for students and for professionals from the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects (BNA) and the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers (ONRI). Over 250 professionals participated in these workshops.

Only As Strong As the Strongest Link: The Impact of Individual Team Member Proficiency in Configuration Design

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Brownell ◽  
Jonathan Cagan ◽  
Kenneth Kotovsky
Keyword(s):  
Team Performance ◽  
Team Member ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Configuration Design ◽  
Design Team ◽  
Markov Modeling ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Hidden Markov Modeling ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Prior research has demonstrated how the average characteristics of a team impact team performance. Individual characteristics of team members and individual team member behavior have been largely ignored, especially in the context of engineering design. In this work, a behavioral study was conducted to uncover whether the most or least proficient member of a configuration design team had a larger impact on overall performance. It was found that a configuration design team is most dependent on the proficiency of its most proficient member and results suggest that replacing the most proficient member with an even more proficient member can be expected to have a more positive impact than replacing any other member with a higher proficiency member of the same change in proficiency. The most proficient member had a significant positive effect on how quickly the team reached performance thresholds and that the other members of the team were not found to have the same positive impact throughout the design study. Behavioral heuristics were found using hidden Markov modeling to capture the differences in behavior and design strategy between different proficiency members. Results show that high proficiency and low proficiency team members exhibit different behavior, with the most proficient member’s behavior leading to topologically simpler designs and other members adopting their designs, leading to the most proficient member driving the team design and team performance.

Team Political Skill Composition as a Determinant of Team Cohesiveness and Performance

2015 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 1001-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Lvina ◽  
Gary Johns ◽  
Christian Vandenberghe
Keyword(s):  
Team Performance ◽  
Team Effectiveness ◽  
Work Teams ◽  
Team Building ◽  
Political Skill ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Team Cohesiveness ◽  
Skill Composition ◽  
Task Cohesion

This study examines the role of team political skill in predicting team effectiveness. Extending the current paradigm of individual political skill and contributing to the team effectiveness literature, we offer a theoretical framework for team political skill composition and test a model whereby task and social cohesion mediate the relationship between team political skill and team performance. On the basis of the results obtained from 189 student project teams and 28 business work teams, we demonstrate that team political skill benefits extend to groups. In both samples, team political skill directly related to subjective and objective team performance. Among several team political skill composition models, the interaction between the group skill mean and standard deviation (“skill strength”) was found to be the best predictor of team emergent states and outcomes. Team political skill was related to objective team performance via social and task cohesion in the student teams and via task cohesion in the work teams. Finally, we investigated the potential dark side of high team political skill but failed to support the too-much-of-a-good-thing hypothesis. Given the social focus of the construct, an aim for future research is to further understand how the composition of individual political skill influences team dynamics and outcomes. Multiple organizational implications extend to recruitment, training, development, and team building.

Towards a Better Design Team Formation: A Review of Team Effectiveness Models and Possible Measurements of Design-Team Inputs, Processes, and Outputs

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun Takai ◽  
Marcos Esterman
Keyword(s):  
Team Effectiveness ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Design Team ◽  
Engineering Technology ◽  
Team Processes ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Effectiveness Model ◽  
Review Team ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Work Structure

Cooperation among team members and good teamwork are essential to successfully complete design projects. As such, engineering students are expected to learn how to design and work effectively in a team. While, team-based project courses have been implemented in almost all engineering and engineering technology disciplines, achieving full contribution by all team members has been a persistent challenge in design and other engineering disciplines. This paper proposes a possible approach to establish guidelines to form design teams. In this paper, we first review team-effectiveness models. We then propose a design-team-effectiveness model, which will study associations between inputs, processes, and outputs in order to improve team processes and maximizes team performance through design team composition, work structure and improved team processes. Finally, we propose (1) measurements of design-team inputs, processes, and outputs, and (2) approaches to analyze associations among inputs, processes, and outputs.

scholarly journals Coordination in Design Teams as a Lens to Identifying Team Roles

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-88
Author(s):  
Arianne X. Collopy ◽  
Chengxi Li ◽  
Tianyi Liu ◽  
Eytan Adar ◽  
Panos Y. Papalambros
Keyword(s):  
System Design ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Team Member ◽  
Communication Patterns ◽  
Design Team ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Communication Behaviors ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Roles And Responsibilities ◽  
Self Reports

AbstractCoordination in system design requires an interplay between different roles. In this work, we identify five design team roles that pertain to the partitioning and coordination of distributed design team tasks. The proposed characterization is based on self-reported responsibilities and communication behaviors from 109 student designers in 22 teams at the conclusion of a semester-long design project. The self-reports capture both how team members viewed their own work as well as communication patterns between team members. We leverage two representations of this data. Through text analysis, we identify keywords describing team member roles and responsibilities. Social network analysis can further distinguish roles based on team communication behaviors. Cluster analysis on both types of data identifies groups of individuals with similar characteristics. The resulting five clusters capture common roles in system design teams that simultaneously capture the diverse responsibilities and communication patterns.

scholarly journals Team Composition

Management ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne T. Bell ◽  
Melissa M. Vazquez
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Team Performance ◽  
Team Effectiveness ◽  
Team Member ◽  
Deep Level ◽  
Team Composition ◽  
Team Members ◽  
Surface Level ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Behavior And Cognition

Team composition, or the configuration of team member attributes, is a key enabling condition for effective teamwork. A well-composed team has the required complement of knowledge and skills, while also considering how the individual differences of team members, such as personality traits, values, and demographics, combine to shape teamwork and, ultimately, team performance. Theories from social, personality, and organizational psychology are used to explain how team composition influences the attitudes, behaviors, and thinking of teams and their members. Team member attributes can range from malleable characteristics, such as knowledge and expertise, to relatively enduring differences between team members, such as demographic variables (e.g., race) or personality traits; attributes are often referred to as knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs). A distinction is often made between surface-level and deep-level composition variables. Surface-level variables are readily detectable characteristics (e.g., race) or easily accessible information (e.g., professional background) that can shape perceptions prior to interaction as well as affect, behavior, and cognition as team members interact. Deep-level variables are underlying, psychological differences between team members, such as personality traits, that shape affect, behavior, and cognition as team members interact. In general, deep-level composition variables have a stronger and longer lasting influence on teamwork and performance than surface-level variables. In team composition research, the unit-level configuration is of interest. Different models and operationalizations are used to capture how characteristics of team members combine to shape teamwork and performance. They range from simple operationalizations, such as the team mean on a specific trait (e.g., team mean conscientiousness), to complex diversity operationalizations that consider the alignment of multiple attributes (i.e., faultline strength). The goal of team composition research is to identify the KSAOs and configurations that shape teamwork and team performance, and then use this information in the management of teams. Teams can be composed ahead of time to maximize team effectiveness; members can be selected to have optimal fit with other team members and the team task. Team composition information can also be used to inform how to best manage a team over time; for example, how to reward the team. High-level information on team composition can be found in books on team effectiveness, with more comprehensive reviews in annual reviews and book chapters. Cutting-edge team composition theories and research are published in peer-reviewed academic journals, with secondary coverage in news outlets, trade journals, and magazines.

Design Team Roles

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglass J. Wilde
Keyword(s):  
Web Site ◽  
Team Member ◽  
Personality Theory ◽  
Design Team ◽  
Design Teams ◽  
Graduate Assistant ◽  
Construction Strategy

Abstract Methods used at Stanford to construct prize-winning student design teams are now available publically on a web site coded by graduate assistant Mike McNelly. Information supplied by the user is interpreted as interests in various roles a team member might assume. Then the site helps the user find potential team mates having different interests — the Stanford team construction strategy. The article shows how the team roles were developed from Jung’s Personality Theory.

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