Enhancing Transferable Skills Development in Group Projects through use of Training Exercises

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Enhancing Transferable Skills Development in
Group Projects through use of Training Exercises

• Colin Smith
• Department of Civil and Structural Engineering
• University of Sheffield

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Background

• LTSN Engineering centre mini project

• Funded 2002/3
• Skills addressed
• Teamwork skills
• Meetings skills
• Negotiation skills

• Investigators
• Colin Smith, Simon Tait, Sue Armstong, Andy Tyas

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Teamwork skills

• Introduced into an existing Level 3 project
• In previous years the Project ran over the first
  part of Semester 1 in parallel with lecture
  courses
• The timetable was amended so that the project
  runs over an intensive two week period on its own
• Efficient teamworking required!

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Why introduce training exercises?

• They work!
• They are enjoyable.

Within a group project (we hoped!) they would

• Lead to deeper learning
• Lead to team building within a group
• Demonstrate a valuable pattern of working
• Enable more positive and confident engagement by
  students with the main project.

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The group project

• Level 3 students
• Design of a new football stadium
• Brief to redevelop the existing site
• Run over an intensive two week period

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What you have to do

• Process a wealth of background technical data
  from an information pack,
• Interview the club architect, the club commercial
  director and tour the existing site (day 3).
• Formal mid-project progress meeting (day 5)
• Formal assessment meeting at end (day 9) designs
  to be presented to the commercial director and
  architect

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What you have to do

• The timing, arrangement and nature of the
  activities require a significant amount of
• communication
• time management
• planning
• problem solving
• TEAM WORKING!

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Team Training

• 09.00 Introduction Group project and aims
• 09.10 Presentation Teamworking 1
• 0930 Briefing Structure of exercises
• 09.35 Exercise 1
• 10.20 Presentation Leadership 1
• 10.40 Coffee Break
• 10.55 Exercise 2
• 11.40 Presentation Communication
• 12.00 Exercise 3
• 12.45 Lunch
• 13.45 Presentation Problem Solving
• 14.05 Exercise 4
• 15.15 Tea Break
• 15.30 Exercise 5
• 16.45 FINISH (Tutors debrief)

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Briefing - roles

• Team Tutors
• Leader
• Observer(s)
• Team members

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Briefing - Exercise structure

• Leader and Observer(s) briefing by Team tutor
• Exercise
• Team debrief
• Class debrief

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Briefing - Observing other people working

• Do

• sit where you can see and hear reasonably well
• stay alert
• take notes
• look for behaviour that furthers the goals of the
  team
• look for behaviour that hampers the team's
  progress

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Briefing - Observing other people working

• Don't
• participate in the exercise
• daydream

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Briefing - Giving feedback

• Do
• Start and end with positive feedback
• Be selective and sensitive about giving negative
  feedback
• Ensure your feedback is of value to the
  recipient(s)

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Briefing - Giving feedback

• Don't
• Be judgmental
• Make generalisations

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• HAVE A GO TIME!

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Team Training

• 09.00 Introduction Group project and aims
• 09.10 Presentation Teamworking 1
• 0930 Briefing Structure of exercises
• 09.35 Exercise 1
• 10.20 Presentation Leadership 1
• 10.40 Coffee Break
• 10.55 Exercise 2
• 11.40 Presentation Communication
• 12.00 Exercise 3
• 12.45 Lunch
• 13.45 Presentation Problem Solving
• 14.05 Exercise 4
• 15.15 Tea Break
• 15.30 Exercise 5
• 16.45 FINISH (Tutors debrief)

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More training
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More training
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The main project reminder

• Process a wealth of background technical data
  from an information pack,
• Interview the club architect, the club commercial
  director and tour the existing site (day 3).
• Formal mid-project progress meeting (day 5)
• Formal assessment meeting at end (day 9) designs
  to be presented to the commercial director and
  architect

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Final debrief

• Vital component of the project.
• Class debrief (with students sitting in their
  team groups) was carried out in two parts
• Academic debrief
• This allowed staff and the industry participants
  to feed back on the technical aspect of the
  design work

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Final debrief

• Skills debrief
• Teams were asked
• to discuss what individual skills they felt they
  had picked up during the project. This was linked
  into PDP issues.
• to consider how they had worked and developed as
  a team during the main project.
• These debriefs were run as mini-exercises.

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Individual Skills debrief

• Team Brief
• At the start of the exercise your team tutor will
  hand you an envelope containing sheets listing a
  range of skills (one sheet for each team member).
  Each team member is require to indicate on the
  sheet those skills they feel that they have
  learnt, reinforced or extended during the course
  of the module. The team must then come to a
  consensus as to those 5 skills most significant
  to this module. You have 12 minutes to complete
  the task.
• As a team you should expect to announce your
  choices to the whole class at the end of the
  exercise.
• THE TUTOR IN CHARGE WILL ANNOUNCE THE START OF
  THE EXERCISE

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Individual Skills debrief
Personal and Professional Skills, Key Skills and
Technical Skills Personal and Professional
Skills
Self-Management q Managing time q Managing
stress q Managing personal development Organisati
onal Management q Team building q Focusing on
results q Managing information q Co-ordinating
resources q Managing change
Decision Making q Investigating
problems q Solving problems Interacting with
others q Making a case q Persuading/motivating
others q Providing leadership Commercial
management q Marketing/selling q Behaving
ethically
Acknowledgements to RAPID
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Student evaluations
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Student evaluations
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Student evaluations (questionnaire)

• Students felt that they had improved their skills
  as a result of the training sessions.
• Students felt that the training sessions had a
  positive impact on how they worked in the project
  itself.

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Student evaluations (focus group)

• The links to PDP were appreciated and should be
  emphasised. Students found the pre and post
  project skills related questionnaires and final
  debriefing sessions useful in helping them to
  focus on PDP related development.
• There was a difference of opinion as to whether
  skills developed in one project successfully
  continued their transfer in later projects. Short
  refresher training sessions at the start of each
  project were suggested (focus group comment).

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Thank you for listeningAny questions?