Why Teams?

Before determining if an assignment should be team or individual based, ask yourself: What benefits does a team approach offer? Using teams might not always be the best approach to an assignment, particularly if the team approach offers no pedagogical advantages. So what are some situations or contexts where a team assignment might make sense?

  • In a multidisciplinary course, where students with various backgrounds can interact on a team.
  • For brainstorming exercises, where the goal is to generate a lot of ideas quickly.
  • When you have a topic that is debatable or has multiple viewpoints.  For instance, a topic that is in the news or being debated in a political arena.
  • If the scope of the assignment is extremely large and can not be accomplished by an individual in a semester.  For example, in some technology-related disciplines a project may require several documents (a proposal document, a design document, a final report) as well as a working prototype created in a specific computer language.  Due to the scope, a team approach may enhance the value of this project.

These are just a few advantages of taking a team approach to an assignment as many different pedagogy-driven reasons exist to leverage teams. When thinking about using a team approach in your classroom, take a few moments to think critically about the team approach, and why it will provide a better learning experience for your students compared to a different type of assignment.

One question to consider when designing a team assignment: is the focus on the process the team will leverage or the end product the team will create? In some cases it will probably be both. Being able to answer this question will help you design assignments that focus on students on the areas you deem most important to their learning. Also, how you assess the team’s work at the end of the assignment will also be influenced by whether your focus is on the process or end product.

Activity
Thinking of a class you teach, what type of assignment do you think lends itself to a team approach? Please briefly describe the assignment, and why you think a team approach will add value to students’ learning, in the “Comment” area below.

Leave a Reply