| dc.description.abstract | Teamwork skills are essential for engineers to be successful in their careers. Engineers often work in teams to solve complex problems. Unfortunately, learning power skills, such as teamwork, can pose a significant challenge for engineering-minded students. This often results in frustration for students and instructors alike. To address this issue, we implemented an innovative approach toward group lab writing in a lab class for 35 junior-level Chemical Engineering students. In this study, individual contributions were worth 30% toward the group-written lab report. Students were required to complete their individual contribution submission as a completion grade 24 hours before the group-written report was due. The group lab report was graded on quality and was worth the other 70%. The purpose of this initiative was twofold: 1) to enhance accountability among team members, as students’ individual grades now reflect their individual contributions; and 2) to foster better time management skills, reducing last-minute group efforts.
Our findings suggest that including an individual portion in lab group assignments positively impacts students. The average scores for the individual contribution portion of the lab reports were 92%. The approach was shown to increase accountability among individual members of the lab groups, as students who self-identified as “waiting to the last minute” were shown to submit individual portions on time (75%). Furthermore, the early submission requirement encouraged effective time management across all students, exemplified by the on-time submission rate of 94% on individual portions, thereby diminishing the likelihood of last-minute, hurried teamwork. Additionally, the entire class exhibited a perfect 100% on-time submission rate for group-written assignments. Finally, students found teamwork more enjoyable with this method of submission. When surveyed, students' opinions of teamwork improved by an average of 1 point (on a 5-point scale). This mixed methods, IRB approved study, highlights the potential benefits of incorporating individual portions in team assignments, paving the way for improved opinions on teamwork, promotion of accountability, and time management skills among students. | en_US |
