Proceedings of the 2nd International Research Symposium on PBL, 3-4 December 2009, Melbourne, Australia

Student Teamwork in Higher Education: a Project Based

approach in Industrial Management and Engineering

Diana Mesquita1, Rui M. Lima2, Maria Assuno Flores3

12

Production and Systems Department, School of Engineering, University of Minho, Campus of

Azurm, 4800-058 Guimares, Portugal (diana@dps.uminho.pt, rml@dps.uminho.pt)
3
Institute of Education, University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
(aflores@iep.uminho.pt)

Abstract
The value of team work is recognized by the engineering employers who are increasingly demanding
for professionals able to integrate interdisciplinary teams. For that reason, it is important that the
learning environments provide adequate opportunities for students to acquire and develop
competencies related to teamwork, such as interpersonal communication, conflict management,
autonomy, time management and leadership. Engineering education based on project approaches can
provide the opportunity to develop these set of competencies. When students work in teams to deal
with a problem or with an open project, they have to spend the majority of their learning activity with
their teams, thus it is important to assure the good functioning of the teams in order to ensure the
quality of the learning process.
The Integrated Master Course on Industrial and Management Engineering (IME) at University of Minho
has been concentrating efforts and resources in the implementation of interdisciplinary project
approach focused on PLE (Project-Led Education) methodology, in which teamwork is emphasized.
During one semester, each team of students is monitored by a tutor and accompanied by the whole
staff coordination team. The evaluation of the consecutive PLE editions shows that teamwork is a
sensitive aspect of the whole process due to the PLE own dynamic and inherent conflicts: different
schedules and priorities, divergent ideas, opinions and attitudes, need to establish consensus, and so
on. Overcoming these challenges is also an important part of the students learning process. Thus, a
structure was created Workshop TECO - aiming to fulfil the needs experienced by the working groups
st
in 1 year of IME at University of Minho, in order to ensure the development of a range of learning
competencies related to teamwork and project management.
Keywords: project approaches, teamwork, project management

1. INTRODUCTION
The Bologna Process was a real challenge to all institutions of higher education in Europe. In Portugal
there has been a deeply reorganization in the higher education programs, particularly in terms of curricula.
At the level of practice, there was a need to develop curricula driven by the educational paradigm shift that
places the student at the centre of the learning process, thus, reinforcing his/her new role. This paradigm
is supported by a set of active methodologies in the teaching and learning process, in order to make
learning a more significant process for students. This means higher levels of flexibility in curricula, marked
by strategies and learning activities that enable the involvement and participation of students in the
educational environment in order to enhance a meaningful, shared and motivating learning process [1].
In this context, cooperative learning has been given more attention, particularly in engineering education
through the introduction of active and participative methodologies based on the idea of engaging students
in their own learning process. The results carried out in recent years show the positive impact that

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Proceedings of the 2nd International Research Symposium on PBL, 3-4 December 2009, Melbourne, Australia

cooperative learning has in the planning and organization of engineering programs [2]. Based on that,
over the past five years, the Integrated Master degree in Industrial and Management Engineering (IME) at
University of Minho has been implementing project approaches based on interdisciplinary contents
according to Project-Led Education principles. According to Powell and Weenk [3], it is an active and
collaborative methodology which emphasizes team work, problem-solving and articulation between theory
and practice by carrying out a project, based on a real situation linked to students future professional
context, which culminates with the presentation of a solution / product.
The results of research carried out in this field have showed the importance of teamwork for both faculty
staff and students motivation, as well as for the relevance of learning, linking theory and practice by
solving real problems and situations. However, there is a set of usual difficulties in the management of the
teams work, particularly in the management of time, communication amongst team members and also in
the planning and organizing of the internal team processes [4]. These constraints influence other elements
of the teaching and learning process, such as the objectives and learning outcomes, the assessment
process and the quality of the individual student work. In this sense, for the improvement of the quality of
teaching and educational practices it is necessary to focus the attention on the strategies to prepare and
support students in the teamwork dynamic (communication, leadership, creativity, motivation, planning
and organization) in order to respond to academic and professional demands. Nowadays, employers
value teamwork as a basic condition for the organizations work success, especially in engineering field [2,
5, 6, 7]. Prepare and train students in cooperative environments and enhancing opportunities for the
acquisition or development of teamwork competencies is a contribution for a relevant professional profile,
more flexible and consistent with modern demands. Therefore, the principles introduced by the Bologna
Process and the growing concern for matching the professional profile of engineering graduates with the
demand of the labour market justify the need to change the design, planning and development of
engineering curriculum, and also to change the roles played by curricular agents (students and teachers).
Educational activities based on teamwork require adequate planning process from the part of faculty staff
and adequate learning attitudes from the part of the students teams. Designing and implementing
educational tools that give support to learning processes based on teamwork is a contribution to promote
the quality of learning situations and outcomes.
The purpose of this work is to describe a learning structure (workshop TECO Teamwork and
Cooperation) for a project based learning approach that aims to fulfil the needs experienced by the
working groups, regarding the development of a range of learning competencies related to teamwork and
project management.

2. PROJECT-LED EDUCATION: The case of the IME

st

The case study presented in this paper takes place at University of Minho, Portugal, with 1 year students
st
of the integrated master degree of IME, whom participated in PLE during the 1 semester on 2008/09
edition. The implementation of PLE in IME is supported by the following four courses: Calculus C;
Computer Programming I; General Chemistry and Introduction to Industrial Management and Engineering.
The content of different curricular units is integrated in the Project in an interdisciplinary way. In fact, the
technical competences acquired by the students come from specific courses content and from the
interdisciplinary project. Additionally students develop transversal competences mainly through project
activities: project management competences like time management and organization skills; team working
competences such as responsibility, leadership and problem solving; writing and oral communication skills
and, also, personal competences such as critical thinking and creativity.
This project approach has higher complexity levels according to learning outcomes related to Blooms
Taxonomy, valuing simultaneously the final result and the learning process [8, 9]. This is possible because
PLE focuses upon open-ended problems based on a theme related to the professional engineering field.
According to Helle et al. [9], the projects that are chosen or designed are relevant, but complex enough in
order to induce students to generate questions of their own. As students define problems and generate
questions they develop a sense of ownership of the learning process. In fact, this project approach in
engineering education represents an added value for the students learning process as well as faculty staff
motivation. However, along with strengths, there are also weaknesses [5] (table 1). Most of these aspects

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Proceedings of the 2nd International Research Symposium on PBL, 3-4 December 2009, Melbourne, Australia

are related to teamwork and, in fact, teamwork can be seen as a strength or a weakness of the process,
depending on the ways in which it is achieved.
Strengths

Weaknesses

Close relationship between teachers and

students;

Doubt and resistance on a new learning model;

More students involvement and motivation;

More efforts and time to preparing and planning;

Theory applied in practice;

The teamwork may affect the individual

performance;

Close to real professional contexts;

Lack of human and physical resources;

Learning by doing.

The extension of the syllabus.

TABLE 1: Project Approach Strengths and weaknesses

(In) Successful Teamwork

When students work in teams to deal with a problem or with an open project, they have to spend the
majority of their learning time with their team. Thus, it is important to assure the good functioning of the
teams in order to ensure the quality of the learning process. According to Powell & Weenk [3], Studentsteam work in PLE will probably occupy something like 40 to 50 per cent of the student learning activity.
Thus, teamwork is a sensitive aspect of the whole process due to the PLE own dynamic. Also, for
students to able to deal with this they must address the following issues and develop additional
competencies: management of interpersonal relationships; deal with divergent ideas, opinions and
attitudes; deal with different schedules and priorities; deal with the need to establish consensus. In fact,
teamwork requires a cooperative process based upon a common and shared purpose [10], but the team
performance does not always reach successful results. There are some problems that arise in teams
influencing their own performance, such as different participation levels, competitiveness and informal
hierarchies [11]. There are no absolute solutions to the problems that exist in teamwork, but there are a
set of attributes that affect the team practice and the level of (in) success can be determined. Tarricone &
Luca [12] underline the following attributes: (1) Commitment to team success and shared goals; (2)
Interdependence between team members; (3) interpersonal skills; (4) open communication and positive
feedback; (5) appropriate team composition; and (6) commitment to team process, leadership and
accountability. A team is more likely to reach success if the attributes that allow the team to grow over the
period of working together are developed. In this cooperative context, teamwork may be understood as
(...) an effective technique for achieving certain kinds of intellectual and social learning goals. It is a
superior technique for conceptual learning, for creative problem solving, and for increasing oral language
proficiency (...) it is also a strategy for solving two common classroom problems: keeping students
involved in their work, and managing instruction for students with a range of academic skills [11].
Teams in PLE 2008/09
This project edition 2008/09 involved 38 students who were organized into 6 teams, varying from 5 to 7
members each. The coordination team included 12 members. Nine of these members are faculty staff that
have different roles: 3 of them are lecturers and team tutors, 3 are only lecturers and finally 3 are only
tutors. The coordination team also includes the course director and two educational researchers. There
was an additional member, a teacher of a non supporting course that participated as an observer. During
one semester, the different teams are monitored by a tutor and accompanied by the whole staff
coordination team. In fact, the tutor is the person who establishes a continuous contact with their team, so
he/she is the person who has more information about it. The role of the tutor in PLE is based on five
actions [13]: (1) gives information about the project and this project approach; (2) monitors the progress of
the team and the performance of their members; (3) encourage critical thinking and problem solving; (4)
monitors the team functioning; (5) stimulates the learning process of the individual members. The tutor in
this project learning approach does not act as an expert or a knowledge specialist, instead he/she gives
support, monitors and stimulates the team. Additionally, there are three types of events during the

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Proceedings of the 2nd International Research Symposium on PBL, 3-4 December 2009, Melbourne, Australia

semester that gives us an idea of how teams are going. The first event happens when the team has to
deliver a document which describes the management strategy that the team will use to control the
progress of the project. The coordination team uses that document to check if teams understand the
meaning of team working and the need to develop and explore strategies that will help bypass difficulties
arising during the project. The second type of event is the extended tutorial. This corresponds to special
meetings, held twice in a semester, between each team and all the members of the coordination team.
The intention of this meeting is to give an integrated feedback on the work done by the team, and clarify
any doubts related to the project that could persist within the team; the third event is the balance
document which helps teams to acknowledge their project status, i.e. what was already achieved and
what remains to be done and when. This information is important in order to analyze the team
performance as well as individual performance. However, strategies and mechanisms that help teams to
overcome some of the limitations related to teamwork are still missing. For that reason the Workshop
TECO (Teamwork and Cooperation) was created, like a first step to improve teamwork in PLE context.

3. IMPROVING TEAMWORK WORKSHOP TECO

This structure Workshop TECO (Teamwork and Cooperation) was implemented for the first time in
2008/09 at the IME, during the first semester of the first year. Workshop TECO is a learning support
structure aiming to fulfill the needs experienced by the working groups in order to promote the
development of a range of learning competencies directly related to teamwork and project management.
With the implementation of this workshop it was intended to ensure a process of continuous training in
regard to working in teams. Furthermore there was also the intention to contribute to the development of
additional transversal competencies associated with project approach practice, namely: collecting and
processing of information, creativity development, problem solving, interpersonal relationship, conflict
management and project management. The purpose of the workshop is primarily to promote the
effectiveness and efficiency of the performance of the working groups and, therefore, to put the
students in a process of active and cooperative learning.
The workshop TECO provides a set of actions under the learning dynamic of PLE. Apart from promoting a
policy of intra group teamwork it also contributes to the development of inter group interactions, enriching
the process through participation, interaction and active involvement of students. This requires a direct,
flexible and constant support to students based on open communication environment. The implementation
of this workshop has been based on three interconnected components: Team work Guide; Training
sessions and tools to support Project Management (see Table 2).

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Proceedings of the 2nd International Research Symposium on PBL, 3-4 December 2009, Melbourne, Australia

Workshop
TECO
Definition

Content

Goals

Teamwork Guide (TEG)

Training Sessions

Project Management Tools

Tool that provides a set of

guidelines or orientations to
support the functioning of
students teams during the
project.
Clarifying some issues that
are important in PLE context
and teamwork: challenges,
assessment, planning time,
formal meetings, etc.

A set of activities based on

cooperative learning methods
(Jigsaw; Structured Academic
Controversy, Co-op Co-op).

Tools to support project management that

enables teams to plan and organize their own
project. In order to make sense, these tools
require a constant update by the team.

The content and goals of each

session are defined according to
teams needs.
Examples:
- motivation; time management;
conflict management; oral
communication; written
communication (reports);

The content of these tools are a privileged

instrument of information, because it reflects the
team identity: What does the team do, what they
are thinking to do, what are the difficulties, etc.
Examples:
- Visual Tools Management based on concepts
adapted from "Lean Manufacturing".
- Collaborative tools such as group spaces,
online forums and Blogs.

Highlight the value of

teamwork.

Support students teams in their own Contribute to the quality of the teams
needs during project development. performance through the tools functionality.

Provide support
documentation.

Promote involvement, participation

and students interaction.

Promote involvement,
participation and students
interaction.

Promote involvement, participation and students

interaction.
Contribute to project monitoring.

TABLE 2: Workshop TECO Plan

Looking at the Workshop TECO Plan it is possible to discuss what was done and how and what was not
done and why. This evaluation is important for improving teamwork in future PLE editions.
What was done and how?
The first Workshop TECO action was a training session about communication, meetings and conflict
management. This session is particularly important in teamwork process because is the kick-off moment
for the teams. In other words, with this session the teams establish the first interaction amongst the
members, and also get some knowledge about working together as a team. The next action was giving
the Teamwork Guide to the teams. This is an informative tool containing some important dimensions
about teamwork in PLE.
An assessing brief session about team performance was made with each team, where each member had
to fill a questionnaire with thirteen questions according to a 5-scale answer (1= never to 5 = always).
Results of this questionnaire are presented in a table using colors (see Table 3) in order to build a visual
perspective of teams performance. Teams closer to red are performing worst and closer to yellow or pink
are performing better.
G1

G2

G3

G4

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Did the team do formal meetings?

The team roles were played?
The results of individual tasks were shared in the team?
The decisions were made with agreement?
All members were involved when a decision was to be made?
Did the team provide opportunities for everybody to talk and give
suggestions?
7. Did the team members help each other?
8. Did some team members overlap the others?
9. Did the team easily solve the problems and the main difficulties?
10. Did the team members remain the team together?
11. Did the team manage the time well?
12. Is the team motivated?
13. Is the team working as a team?

TABLE 3: Assessment Results Teams Performance

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G5

G6
LABEL
Never
Seldom
Often
Very often
Always

Proceedings of the 2nd International Research Symposium on PBL, 3-4 December 2009, Melbourne, Australia

Analysis of the data shows that, in general, the main strengths in students teams are the interpersonal
relationship and the team motivation; the main weaknesses are mostly time management and team
motivation. So, motivation is one dimension that appears in both sides; it can be both strength and a
weakness, depending on two reasons: the moment that the assessment took place during the process
and the results achieved by the team.
What was not done and why?
The main problem in the implementation of the Workshop TECO was to guarantee one of the aims
higher involvement and participation of students. It is extremely difficult to make an appointment with the
teams to discuss and share ideas about teamwork and difficulties or to do training sessions with them.
Students claim that they have heavy workload in PLE process, imposed by the tasks for the project, the
tasks for the courses, the milestones to carry out, and other things that they see as more important than
training sessions about teamwork.
Additionally, the students teams had a training session related to oral and written communication
developed by the Council of Engineering Courses that accomplished one of the domains particularly
important in PLE context and also teamwork.
The Project Management knowledge area is still requiring higher investment and effort. For instance,
project management knowledge can be very useful to help students teams to one critical issue time
management.

4. CONCLUSIONS
How to develop teamwork skills is an important issue in PBL, as we can see in the case of the PLE
presented in this paper. The conclusions may lead to some changes for future editions of the Workshop
TECO. This is deeply relevant because the main objective of the participants in this project approach is
the students success, preparing them for the demands of the labour market from the very beginning.
The outcomes of the first edition of the workshop helped highlighted the need for:
a) Promoting a more focused intervention in regard to time management, communication and
internal organization of the teams (Project Management). This is the main question that requires
discussion in order to see how and what we can do to assure mechanisms and tools based on
Project Management knowledge to support the PLE management by the students team.
b) Assigning tutors a more active role in the team work, according to the characteristics of his/her
team. The meetings between tutor and students team can be oriented to informal training
sessions where some important issues are discussed and shared.
c) Seeking strategies to encourage participation, involvement and interaction of the teams in the
activities devised. This can be achieved by an online structure for promoting the interaction
amongst people, such as a blog with news, videos and another material related to teamwork.
d) Assessing the processes involved in Workshop TECO at the end of the project. The objective is to
collect more data about the impact of this structure in teamwork practices. This can be done by
analyzing three main features: 1) How students assess the team performance at the end of the
project. The result should give a view on what can be improved when they work in teams. 2) to
analyze the roles of the members within the team, in the beginning and at the end. This is
important for students to realize their strengths in working as a team. 3) to identify the
competencies acquired or developed during the project, according to the competencies that are
defined in the Learning Guide. Faculty staff should be actively involved in this analysis, and the
results should be subject of debate within the coordination team.
The main objective for future editions will be consolidating Workshop TECO, giving it a lighter structure.
The evolution of the concept of the workshop will highlight the participation of the tutor in the process of
developing team work competencies. In this intervention tutors will have training sessions with the group
of students, focused on six attributes that clearly influence the dynamic and practices, determining the
degree of an effective teamwork (Tarricone & Luca, 2002): (1) commitment, (2) interdependence, (3)

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Proceedings of the 2nd International Research Symposium on PBL, 3-4 December 2009, Melbourne, Australia

interpersonal skills, (4) open communication and positive feedback, (5) appropriate team composition, and
(6) commitment to team processes, leadership and accountability.

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