Team Effectiveness Theory from Industrial and Organizational Psychology Applied to Engineering Student Project Teams: A Research Review

Abstract

Background Engineering student team projects are frequently used to meet professional learning outcomes. Industrial and organizational psychologists study teams in the industry settings for which we prepare students, yet this research does not effectively inform engineering education. Purpose This research review sought to demonstrate the relevance of literature on teams literature from industrial and organizational psychology to engineering education and to identify implications for practice and future directions for research. Scope/Method Phase 1 systematically reviewed 104 articles published from 2007 to 2012 describing engineering and computer science student team projects and sought to answer the following questions: What professional learning outcomes have been met by team projects? What negative student team behaviors have faculty sought to minimize? What literature has been used to inform development of teamwork outcomes? Phase 2 reviewed five team effectiveness constructs selected according to the results of Phase 1: social loafing, interdependence, conflict, trust, and shared mental models. Examples from Phase 1 articles and our own work explain how this research informs facilitation and assessment of engineering student teams. Conclusions Engineering faculty sought to achieve a variety of outcomes through team projects, including teamwork, communication, sustainability, and consideration of global/societal design context. They sought to avoid social loafing and conflict while building trust to ensure equal team effort. That few Phase 1 articles engaged the literature about team effectiveness indicates there is great opportunity to apply industrial and organizational psychology research to engineering education.

Assessing and Developing the Individual and Team Work Attribute

“…Not every project requires interdependence, and as such, not every project requires a team. Accordingly, current team projects should be reviewed to determine the interdependent nature of the assignment and if it is necessary to be done in a team or if it can (and should) be done independently [13]. In laboratory settings, where the primary purpose of working in groups is to alleviate resource pressures (e.g., machines, marking, etc.…”

“…This program links globally-distributed business student teams to work on problems presented by corporate partners. Although it is recognized that implementation of multi-disciplinary teams would be difficult, it would likely better prepare students for authentic industry experience [13].…”

“…Extensive research and assessment practices on team work have been developed and validated in the field of Industrial Organizational (IO) Psychology, with recent research highlighting the benefits of partnering IO theories and Engineering education [13]. Accordingly, the Individual and Team Performance (ITP) lab in the Department of Psychology was commissioned by the Schulich School of Engineering (SSE) at the University of Calgary to operationalize the assessment of this team work attribute.…”

Collaborative Teamwork in Crossdisciplinarity

“…That explains why certain engineering programs are looking to integrate group work training. The production of work in teams within courses has grown in popularity because it allows the integration of pedagogical approaches that correspond to the expectations of the workplace [19,9,36]. Therefore, it has become important to explore the conditions that will allow the integration of new competencies and pedagogical approaches in team work in engineering schools.…”

The Impact of Personal Interactions on the Experience of African American Males on Multiracial Student Teams

“…As a result, the use of team projects to develop teaming skills has increased in engineering courses, and teamwork is now a central outcome required by accreditation agencies in the U.S. [5] . However, despite the emphasis of teamwork in undergraduate engineering education and the increasing prevalence of team projects, we have an underdeveloped understanding of team effectiveness and student team behaviors [6] .…”