Team Learning Module Activities

Team Learning Module Activities

Objective (Team life-cycle activities)

Ask students to practice what they learnt about the team life-cycle by completing specific activities related to each stage of the team process. More specifically:

Stage 1 – Forming Activity

Activity: Structured self-introductions.

Students will write a 1-page bio for their teammates to introduce themselves and summarize individual experiences with teamwork (1 positive; 1 negative): they will elicit their strengths and weaknesses as they apply to working in teams and contributing to final deliverables.

Assessment: Self-Introduction Evaluation Rubric (this sample rubric can be adapted in all the remaining assignments)

Objective / Criteria / Performance Indicators
Need Improvement / Meet Expectations / Exceptional
Spelling & Grammar / some errors appear in the narrative / well written, accurate and to the point / well written, the editing efforts are evident
Max 0.25 / Max 0.30 / Max 0.40
Completeness / the introduction only answers some questions/tasks completely; or answers all questions very quickly / the introduction answers all the questions satisfactorily / the introduction answers all the questions; the PPT is complete
Max 0.5 / Max 0.75 / Max 1.0
Style & Creativity / the introduction shows little new information to contribute to the learning of others / the introduction introduces relevant information that contribute to the learning of others / the information is presented in an innovative and engaging way
Of 0.35 / Max 0.50 / Max 0.60
Total / Max 2.0

Stage 2 – Storming Activity

Activity: Elaborate a formal (or informal) team contract

Student teams will discuss questions such as

·  Do we have the same goals and expectations?

·  What are the key steps / activities needed to reach our goal?

·  Which tools and processes do we use to communicate?

·  What is a reasonable response time?

·  How does a preliminary project plan look like?

·  Who is responsible for what?

·  What to do if no response? Or low-quality response?

Based on the discussion results, students will draft a team contract agreeing on:

·  Statement of Goals and Expectations

·  Policies & Procedures

·  Preliminary Project Plan

·  Project Roles

Assessment: Evaluation Rubric Adapted from Stage 1

Stage 3 – Norming Activity

Activity: 1) Report (team meetings management)

For each team meeting, define and submit meeting minutes, which include:

·  List of attendees

·  Duration & location (or collaborative interface) of the meeting

·  Meeting agenda

·  Discussion of status of milestones from last meeting

·  New Items discussed

·  New list of action items to review during the following meeting

·  Include task type, description, task owner, deadline

·  List date and time of next meeting

·  Store the minutes in an agreed location – easily accessible by team members

Activity: 2) Review

Review team activities and outcomes and discuss them as a team:

·  Are your meetings of appropriate length? Are meeting objectives attained?

·  Is the approach concrete, clear and agreed?

·  Can you measure progress?

·  Do all members feel equally responsible for the project outcomes?

·  Is there a belief that “only the team can fail?” Can differences be reconciled?

Activity: 3) Evaluate

Evaluate team activities assigning a 1 to 7 score (1=low à 7 = high) to each item listed below:

·  Goal Clarity / Agreement

·  Listening / empathy

·  Trust

·  Feedback

·  Conflict Management

·  Decision Making

·  Leadership

·  Team Learning

Activity: 4) Remedy

List a series of remedies for issues that you identified are affecting your team performance.

Assessment: Evaluation Rubric Adapted from Stage 1

Stage 4 – Performing Activity

Activity: 1) Peer evaluations

Each student submits a confidential peer evaluation form to evaluate task performance and leadership of each team member, including you.

PEER EVALUATION FORMS DIRECTIONS

Once upon a time…

A team of students had four members named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done. Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

- Graham Gibbs

Name of Evaluator______Group Name/Number______

Please read the instruction for filling out this form before you evaluate your group members.

Assign point totals using the following scale:

Almost Never / Seldom / Sometimes / Often / Almost Always
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

Use the last column to rate yourself

Name1 / Name2 / Name3 / Name4 /

Self

Contribution to TASK ACCOMPLISHMENT
T1. Shows initiative by doing research, analysis, fulfilling tasks
T2. Prepares for and attends scheduled face-to-face or virtual meetings
T3. Makes positive contributions to meetings that help achieve objectives
T4. Reliably fulfills assignments with high quality work
T5. Contributes ideas to team analysis that support my learning
Contribution to LEADERSHIP
L6. Keeps team focused on priorities
L7. Support/coaches/encourages team members
L8. Listens carefully to contributions of others
L9. Manages conflict effectively
L10. Demonstrates effective leadership on the team
Total points (out of 50)

(Source for Questions: Adapted from Boston University, Center for Team Learning and Team Learning Assistant Web Site)

Open-ended Evaluation Questions

1. Explain your scoring, particularly when you gave low / or always-the-same ratings.

2. Indicate who excelled in contributing or who, in your opinion, negatively affected the performance and learning in your group?

Stage 5 – Adjourning Activity

Activity: 1) Journal

Submit a journal discussing

·  What task-related materials have we learned?

·  What did we learn about working as a team?

Activity: 2) Evaluation and Synthesis

Discuss how to close activities in a positive way. Answer:

·  What next?

·  How do we leverage what we learnt?

·  Self-evaluation

Objective (Team Roles activities)

Ask the student to practice what they learnt about team roles by completing specific activities related to Belbin’s team role theories.

Activity: 1) Identify your preferred team role

Students will take an on-line assessment based on the Belbin self-perception inventory and will identify their preferred team roles and discuss them with their teammates.

http://www.hull.ac.uk/foundationaward/FE_pages/documents/BelbinSelfPerceptionInventory.doc (3/1/08)

Activity: 2) Role-Playing

Students will participate in a situational exercise where individuals step into different roles to better understand when they are needed. Belbin encourages playing only the preferred team-roles rather than forcing other roles (i.e. an implementer trying to be creative is unorthodox). However, role play emphasizes empathy and understanding of other people strengths and weaknesses.

Activity: 3) Coherence

Students will compare their own Belbin’s self-assessment with that of others (and how others see them) to understand the gap between self and group perception.

Assessment: Instructor reviews and compares team roles profiles.

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