Cognitive Diversity And The Performance Of Freshman Engineering Teams

Abstract

Some researchers have indicated that teams with greater cognitive diversity produce superior results. Cognitive diversity can take a variety of forms, but in this work diversity of personality types is explored. The impact of cognitive styles on team performance was evaluated in a freshman environmental engineering (EVEN) course. The students worked on projects involving comparative analysis and some calculations, but no design or intrinsically "creative" requirements. Specifically, student teams in 2006, 2007, and 2008 evaluated solid waste landfills. In 2006 and 2007 the project encompassed three or four periods of in-class direction and work time. In 2008, the project was modified to compare the energy and environmental impacts of landfills to waste-to-energy incinerators and included only two class periods with instructor direction (lecture and question/answer). Three different methods were used to form the student teams. In 2006, student grades in the class to date were used to create groups with similar average scores. In 2007, each team included a non first-year student or a student in the honors program in an attempt to assign a potential "team leader" for each group. An evaluation tool to determine perception and judgment roles based on Jungian typology 38 was administered via a written questionnaire to the students on the first day that the semester-project was introduced. This enabled determination of the cognitive diversity on the pre-assigned teams. In 2008, the cognitive style inventory results were used to create teams with maximum diversity. Earlier in the semester, student groups assigned alphabetically compared drinking water alternatives.

Approaching Math as a Tool for Engineering: A Bridge into College Engineering

“…The research was conducted under a protocol approved by the Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects Research. The course included a pre and post survey which embedded items on self-efficacy (confidence), engineering identity, and belonging in the course and at the institution [17]. Students also consented to have their grades and assignments (such as reflective essays) explored.…”

“…The course was variously (un)popular with students, some of whom perceived it as 'remedial'. Despite this, early data was promising that taking the course provided a 'lift' in students' persistence, determined by using prediction-based propensity score matching [17]. Changes in the course title and format over time have been responsive to the feedback from students, instructors of the course, and colleagues in mathematics (summarized in Table 2).…”

Motivation and Impact of Diverse Student Teams in Graduate Projects

“…Researchers found that when working in teams, students were able to identify gaps in their professional skills in areas of communication, project management, and teamwork [10]. In addition, by working in diverse teams, students may be willing to understand and accommodate differences to facilitate better experiences and improve results [11]. A lack of diversity in student teams is a missed opportunity for students to develop effective leadership and management skills [12].…”