A Case Study of Knowledge Management and Organizational Culture in an Undergraduate Software Development Team Project

People work in software development projects to bundle the human resources and use the systematic approach to share system development knowledge. One can view knowledge as personalized related to facts, procedures, concepts, interpretations, ideas, and judgments. This way, knowledge is the outcome of the cognitive processing of information. Knowledge can be transferred from a source to a receiver. The collaborative knowledge-sharing mechanism is known as knowledge management (KM) in the software industry. The software developers can communicate with, learn from, and solve problems with other participating team members. The organizational culture is an essential factor in knowledge management success since it influences how team members learn and share knowledge. This chapter presents a case study that aimed to compare, in practice, the relationship between the KM cycle (SECI – socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization model) and the organizational culture through the competing values framework (CVF).

Serious Game Design by Unified Block Interactions to Support Educational Transformations

This paper introduces a generalized structure for the optimal development of an adventure serious game. Present pandemic conditions induce transformations in educational methods, of which games are an attractive option. A serious game is an interdisciplinary team project for which our structure allows all members to interact irrespective of computer science proficiency. A method of interaction between unified blocks is proposed, consisting of five blocks that cover all the characteristics necessary to describe a serious game. The unified blocks are: rules, characters, scenarios, communication and score. The blocks are divided into sub-blocks that detail the characteristics of the game. The “luck” sub-block allows the real-life non-predictability dimension to be included in the game. During the interaction of the sub-blocks the different contexts of the game are created. Each context has a specific educational content goal that the player must go through. The interactions between sub-blocks are described in an XML file, common working environment for all the interdisciplinary members of the design team involves graphic designers, programmers, game designers and experts in the content to be transmitted. The principle of unified blocks is applied to the fifteen contexts of an existing game, JUSEGU, for which five new contexts are included and implemented in this paper to increase its educational content.

Improving Lab Culture Through Self-Assessment: A Case Study

Purpose: Motivated by perceived dissatisfaction within our lab’s changed working environment brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, we performed a self-assessment of our lab culture through anonymous surveys and live sessions. Methods: In Survey 1, we asked each lab member to identify and rank up to 10 values that are important for a healthy lab environment. They were then asked to rate how well the lab embodied those values at two time points: before the COVID-19 pandemic while working onsite, and at the time of the survey while working remotely (10 months into the pandemic). In a series of live group sessions, we reviewed relevant literature and the survey results to finalize ten themes. We then reflected on each theme and proposed action items to address any deficiencies. Finally, we conducted Survey 2 after the self-assessment to judge the group's finalized themes, implemented changes, and overall satisfaction with the assessment process. Results: Themes identified were attitude, accountability, teamwork/collaboration, communication, diversity/inclusion, emotional intelligence, integrity, training, well-being, and adaptability in crisis-management. All lab members liked the self-assessment process and felt their voices were heard. On average, there was a 1 2 % increase in satisfaction across all themes from the start to end of the lab assessment. Conclusion: We successfully assessed the culture of our lab and subsequently improved lab member satisfaction. The success of this team project suggests that other scientific labs could benefit from similar interactive self-assessments.

Lessons Learnt From The 2020 COVID 19 Lockdown: A Students’ Online MS Team Project

This paper outlines an investigation of the impact of a programme Students Online, which was created in Microsoft (MS) Teams during New Zealand’s level 4 lockdown of March-May 2020. Students Online was set by the Learning Hub, the learning support centre, for a large tertiary institution in response to an international student’s request, asking for a way for students to meet and practise English. The study aimed to investigate the experiences of those who engaged with the MS Team and derive implications for possible future improvement. Offering focused learning support as well as sessions on life in New Zealand, the most significant benefit seen was the overall sense of connection when many aspects of life were disconnected. Other benefits highlighted by the study’s participants include improved communication between students and the Learning Hub, a “mental release” in the day, relationships being built and adding to the institute’s value of being supportive. The MS Team provided a sense of normality in a time when life was filled with abnormality. Participants were drawn from Learning Hub staff and students who interacted within the programme. This study found that the Students Online programme was considered generally useful and successful, modifications for future such programmes are suggested.

Synergy of language and engineering education: Team project as a learning technology and an assessment tool

Актуальность статьи обусловлена недостаточной изученностью вопроса интеграции языкового и инженерного образования, а также необходимостью выработки эффективных механизмов реализации компетентностного подхода средствами цифровых образовательных технологий. Цель статьи заключается в описании технологии командного проекта как формирующе-оценивающей педагогической технологии, положенной в основу организации курса «Иностранный язык» для студентов неязыковых специальностей. Авторы раскрывают методологические основания разработанной педагогической технологии, включающие принципы компетентностного, деятельностного, коммуникативного, социокультурного модульного и проектного подходов; описывают организационную, содержательную, информационно-технологическую и оценочную компоненты технологии на примере конкретного командного проекта. Доказано, что предложенная технология позволяет получить устойчивые положительные результаты в развитии предметных и надпредметных компетенций. Статья предназначена для практиков языкового образования в высшей школе. The relevance of the article is due to the insufficient study of the issue of integration of language and engineering education, as well as the need to develop effective mechanisms for implementing the competence approach by means of digital educational technologies. The purpose of the article is to describe the technology of the team project as a formative-evaluating pedagogical technology, which is the basis for the organization of the course "Foreign language" for students of non-linguistic specialties. The authors reveal the methodological foundations of the developed pedagogical technology, including the principles of competence, activity, communicative, socio-cultural modular and project approaches; describe the organizational, content, information technology and evaluation components of the technology on the example of a specific team project. It is proved that the proposed technology allows to obtain stable positive results in the development of subject and supra-subject competencies. The article is intended for practitioners of language education in higher education.

A Grounded Theory of Virtual Facilitation: Building Relationships with Virtual Team Members

<p>The purpose of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of the issues facing virtual team facilitators as they implement and facilitate virtual teams. The study asked the following research question: How do facilitators of virtual teams build relationships with their virtual team members? Because virtual teams are a new form of highly dynamic and ambiguous collaborative interaction, a major challenge of this study was the need to generate relevant data and analyze it in an appropriate manner. To achieve this, a research framework involving a training program format was instituted based on methods developed in Action Learning (AL), with data collection and analysis based on grounded theory approaches (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). The AL-based 'virtual team facilitation' training program used in this study was designed to achieve the following three goals: to generate interest and incentive for would-be participants, to give participants information and skills to initiate and facilitate their own virtual teams, and to generate data for analysis. After being recruited, participants were broadly interviewed to determine their prior experience with virtual teams and their perceived needs and concerns in implementing and facilitating their own virtual team. The researcher then developed a ten-week training program to meet these needs. A pilot program and two subsequent training programs were held. During the training programs, each participant planned for, or actually initiated and facilitated a virtual team within their own organizational context. Every two weeks the participants met with the researcher to investigate issues related to initiating and facilitating virtual teams and to discuss issues that were arising in their own virtual teams. In all seven participants from a variety of New Zealand organizations took part in the study. The seven participants formed a diverse group, from the managing director of a one-man, global virtual organization who worked exclusively in global virtual team settings to a self-employed consultant managing a local virtual work team. The participants were in various stages of their virtual team lifecycle, from planning through initiation to full-scale facilitation and evaluation of a just-completed virtual team project. The participants' virtual team project tasks ranged from managing a political campaign on the other side of the world to developing and running a national web-based academic assessment center. A unique feature of this study is that it involves organizational professionals as opposed to students. Data was collected from face-to-face and telephone interviews, group discussions and e-mail correspondences. Data collection extended to several months beyond the end of the training sessions. Using grounded theory techniques, the data was analyzed using "a general method of (constant) comparative analysis". Data was collected and coded simultaneously over the course of the training sessions, with subsequent coding confirming, refining, extending and modify the data. The data showed very clearly that the facilitators considered it essential to build some level of personal relationship with their virtual team members before commencing a virtual working relationship. Further, a unifying framework of three inter-related theoretical steps in the overall process a virtual facilitator goes through when building relationships with virtual team members was inductively derived from this study. These three steps are Assessing Conditions, Choosing Level of Relationship, and Creating Strategies. This study is the first to identify the steps a virtual team facilitator undertakes when building relationships with virtual team members. It has implications for virtual team practice, research and training.</p>

A Grounded Theory of Virtual Facilitation: Building Relationships with Virtual Team Members

<p>The purpose of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of the issues facing virtual team facilitators as they implement and facilitate virtual teams. The study asked the following research question: How do facilitators of virtual teams build relationships with their virtual team members? Because virtual teams are a new form of highly dynamic and ambiguous collaborative interaction, a major challenge of this study was the need to generate relevant data and analyze it in an appropriate manner. To achieve this, a research framework involving a training program format was instituted based on methods developed in Action Learning (AL), with data collection and analysis based on grounded theory approaches (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). The AL-based 'virtual team facilitation' training program used in this study was designed to achieve the following three goals: to generate interest and incentive for would-be participants, to give participants information and skills to initiate and facilitate their own virtual teams, and to generate data for analysis. After being recruited, participants were broadly interviewed to determine their prior experience with virtual teams and their perceived needs and concerns in implementing and facilitating their own virtual team. The researcher then developed a ten-week training program to meet these needs. A pilot program and two subsequent training programs were held. During the training programs, each participant planned for, or actually initiated and facilitated a virtual team within their own organizational context. Every two weeks the participants met with the researcher to investigate issues related to initiating and facilitating virtual teams and to discuss issues that were arising in their own virtual teams. In all seven participants from a variety of New Zealand organizations took part in the study. The seven participants formed a diverse group, from the managing director of a one-man, global virtual organization who worked exclusively in global virtual team settings to a self-employed consultant managing a local virtual work team. The participants were in various stages of their virtual team lifecycle, from planning through initiation to full-scale facilitation and evaluation of a just-completed virtual team project. The participants' virtual team project tasks ranged from managing a political campaign on the other side of the world to developing and running a national web-based academic assessment center. A unique feature of this study is that it involves organizational professionals as opposed to students. Data was collected from face-to-face and telephone interviews, group discussions and e-mail correspondences. Data collection extended to several months beyond the end of the training sessions. Using grounded theory techniques, the data was analyzed using "a general method of (constant) comparative analysis". Data was collected and coded simultaneously over the course of the training sessions, with subsequent coding confirming, refining, extending and modify the data. The data showed very clearly that the facilitators considered it essential to build some level of personal relationship with their virtual team members before commencing a virtual working relationship. Further, a unifying framework of three inter-related theoretical steps in the overall process a virtual facilitator goes through when building relationships with virtual team members was inductively derived from this study. These three steps are Assessing Conditions, Choosing Level of Relationship, and Creating Strategies. This study is the first to identify the steps a virtual team facilitator undertakes when building relationships with virtual team members. It has implications for virtual team practice, research and training.</p>