Developing and Assessing Teamwork Skills in Undergraduate Students

An inter-departmental group of staff and faculty, with members of the Student Success Office and the Centre for Teaching Excellence at the University of Waterloo have developed a series of six teamwork training modules for undergraduate students. These modules consist of a short presentation of knowledge, followed by experiential learning activities designed to engage specific teamwork skills. The modules have been designed to Page 22 of 62 reinforce course content, and to be integrated with existing project-based learning activities in the course. They are intended to be used in a longitudinal thread across the first six terms of an undergraduate program and have proven to be flexible in their deployment. The first five modules cover a range of topics relating to teamwork, with a final "mastery” module before students enter their fourth year capstone experiences. A longitudinal assessment framework built around Kirkpatrick’s Four Levels of Training Evaluation has been used to assess these modules. Reaction and learning levels are assessed during the training module. Behaviour is assessed in fourth year capstone courses, and results are assessed through the outcomes-based accreditation processes in place in the Faculty.