Teaching Teamwork Skills in Software Engineering Based on an Understanding of Factors Affecting Group Performance

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Teaching Teamwork Skills in Software Engineering
Based on an Understanding of Factors Affecting
Group Performance

• Robert Lingard and Elizabeth Berry

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Overview

• The importance of teaching teamwork skills
• Objectives of current effort
• A brief look at previous results
• Results from the current study
• Strategies for teaching teamwork
• Summary and conclusions

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The Importance of Teaching Teamwork

• Employers are increasingly seeking computer
  science graduates with communication and teamwork
  skills
• Accrediting bodies, like ABET, now stress the
  importance of teaching communication and
  teamwork skills
• Teamwork activities have a positive effect on
  learning

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Objectives of Current Effort

• Study the effects of team composition on team
  performance
• Examine other factors that affect team success
• Develop team teaching strategies to take
  advantage of, or compensate for, the nature of
  our student teams

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Ways of Forming Student Teams

• Self selection
• Random assignment
• A process that takes into account various factors
  that may affect team performance, such as
  synergy, subject knowledge, etc.

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Results from Previous Study

• Data from 23 teams in 4 software engineering
  classes over 2 semesters were studied.
• Project success correlated significantly with a
  teams self rating of effectiveness.
• Project success correlated significantly with the
  average test scores of team members.
• There was some evidence that project success
  correlated with team synergy as measured by the
  Kolbe A index.

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Team Synergy as Defined by Kolbe


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Results from Current Study

• Data from 39 teams in 6 classes over 4 semesters
  were analyzed.
• The results indicate even more significant
  correlations between project scores and self
  ratings of effectiveness and average test scores
  than before.
• A significant correlation between project scores
  and group synergy (using the Kolbe measure of
  viability) was noted.

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Additional Factors Analyzed in Current Study

• Average age of the group members
• Gender of group members
• Cultural diversity among members
• Percentage of native English speakers
• Level of participation by members
• Group size

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Average Age of Group Members

• The average age ranged from 21.3 to 38.0 years.
• There was no significant difference in project
  scores based on average group age.

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Gender of Group Members

• The percentage of women on teams ranged from 0
  to 60.
• There was no significant difference in project
  scores based on the number of women on a team.

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Cultural Diversity among Group Members

• Diversity was calculated by counting the number
  of different native languages on the team and
  dividing by the number of members.
• In a typical class of 30 there were as many as 17
  different native languages.
• No significant difference in project scores was
  noted among the teams.

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Percentage of Native English Team Members

• The percentage of native English speakers on a
  team ranged from 0 to 80.
• There was no significant difference in project
  scores based on the number of native English
  speakers.

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Team Size

• Most teams consisted of 5 members.
• There some teams of size 3, 4 and 6.
• There was a significant negative correlation
  between project scores and team size.

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Degree of Participation by Team Members

• Team members rated the participation of each
  member as a percentage of the whole.
• The variance among average participation scores
  was calculated.
• There was a significant negative correlation
  between this variance and project scores.

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Teamwork Teaching Strategies

• Sharing commonalities
• Team retreat
• Team meeting reports
• Mine/ours exercises
• Hypothetical situations
• Role playing

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Team Meeting Reports

• A written report is required for each team
  meeting
• Member attendance is noted
• One member serves as moderator and another as
  recorder at each meeting
• Encourages participation by all members

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Mine/Ours Exercises

• Each member of the team produces an independent
  solution to a problem
• The team meets and the individual solutions are
  compared and discussed
• The team produces a consensus version of the
  solution

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Role Playing

• Each team member is given a specific role to play
• Team conducts a simulated meeting in front of the
  rest of the class to discuss a specific problem
• Requires participation of all team members

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Summary and Conclusions

• Since team synergy correlates with project
  success, attempts should be made to form
  synergistic teams.
• Since project success is correlated with test
  scores, teams should be cognitively balanced for
  fairness and to reduce the likelihood of forming
  ineffective teams.

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Summary and Conclusions (Continued)

• Since project success correlates with greater
  member participation, exercises should be devised
  that encourage such participation.

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Contact Information

• Robert Lingard
• - rlingard_at_ecs.csun.edu
• Elizabeth Berry
• - elizabeth.berry_at_csun.edu