Instructors often incorporate self- and peer evaluations when they use teamwork in their classes, which is common in management education. However, the process is often time consuming and frequentl...

The Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness: Development of a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale for Self- and Peer Evaluation

Business school faculty have been placing students into teams for group projects for many years, with mixed results. Obvious benefits accrue in using teams, but so do numerous problems. One of the main issues is that many business faculty often place students in teams with little or no guidance on how teams properly function. In this article, the author synthesizes a detailed review of the literature on teams and teamwork, examining the benefits and problems of using student teams and then suggests processes business faculty can put in place to maximize the benefits of group projects, while minimizing the problems. A preliminary study of student perceptions of team projects is also included in this review.

Benefits and Problems With Student Teams: Suggestions for Improving Team Projects

To respond to the expectations of the industry and business school accreditation bodies, marketing faculty have been making extensive use of group projects in their curricula. A common problem with the use of student groups, however, is that of social loafing. In this study, we identify some easy-to-implement project set-up factors and examine their impact on reducing the incidence of social loafing. We find that the incidence of social loafing increases with the scope of the project and the size of the student group assigned to the project. We also find that having multiple peer evaluations during the course of the project reduces social loafing. We study the impact of social loafing on students' satisfaction with group members' contribution and the perceived fairness of the project grade. Recommendations for reducing social loafing and increasing students' satisfaction with group projects are also discussed.

Social Loafing on Group Projects Structural Antecedents and Effect on Student Satisfaction

The increase in popularity of group work in higher education has been accompanied by an increase in the frequency of reports of students not equally contributing to work within the groups. Referred to as ‘free-riders’, the effect of this behaviour on other students can make group work an unpleasant experience for some. Of most frustration to students is receiving the same mark as their fellow non-contributing group members despite producing much of the group’s work. Identifying free-riding behaviour early on in a project can help reduce the impact it has on other group members. What can also be identified is that free-riding behaviour is not necessarily due to apathy or a deliberate attempt to do as little work as possible. Numerous underlying reasons can lead a student to not contribute equally to a group even if he or she is willing. This study involved surveying students (N = 205) from all faculties of an Australian university and asking them of their attitudes towards group work. Free-text responses f...

The problem of free-riding in group projects: Looking beyond social loafing as reason for non-contribution:

Colleges of business must meet assurance of learning requirements to gain or maintain AACSB accreditation under the new standards adopted April 8, 2013. Team skills are among the most important ski...

Assessing Teamwork Skills for Assurance of Learning Using CATME Team Tools

The ability to work in teams is a skill that is often taught in universities to be applied in the business world. This study of junior and senior college students shows that project grades, perceiv...

Elizabeth Pfaff

Papers

Does It Matter if I Hate Teamwork? What Impacts Student Attitudes toward Teamwork