Student Team Projects: Traumatized by Teamwork
Challenges of Teamwork
Let's be honest — teamwork is tough, and we often start dreading it way earlier than you'd think. I was chatting with a friend recently who told me about her son's foray into teamwork. He came home from school and announced to her that he hated working in teams. (In 4th grade!) His grand plan? Become a doctor so he could work solo. He was not thrilled when his mom explained that doctors actually spend a lot of their time collaborating with others.
Most parents probably have a similar story to tell. I remember my own son's elementary school team horror stories. He made it clear that he did not like working in teams either. He didn’t like everyone on his team. Furthermore, he felt like he had to do more work than some of the others in his team. “(Name omitted here) never did any work, Mom – teams suck!”
These complaints extend all the way to university student team projects. And there's a good reason for this. Our world is increasingly collaborative these days. Technology has made working together easier, even necessary. As a result, teamwork has become a staple of education, all the way through college.
As a university professor, I saw this firsthand. Recruiters would constantly tell us they wanted students who knew how to work in teams. Not just technical skills, but "soft" skills as well: the ability to work with others, communicating effectively, compromise, and actually getting stuff done together.
Faculty from all disciplines are being asked to include student team projects in their courses. And while faculty are experts in their respective fields, they lack knowledge about how to create, manage, and assess teamwork assignments. Teamwork is a science to itself. Asking people in different fields to be student team project experts would be like asking me to do a student team project about microbiology (hint: it would not go well).
That's why I created my virtual workshop on student teams. Think of it as a survival guide to help instructors be more successful in their teamwork endeavors. Whether you are a teacher, administrator, or someone who handles faculty development, check out rstandiferworkshops.com—consider it your teamwork lifeline.
