Supporting a class’ development in teamwork

Abstract

This paper presents the design and initial adoption of a new class-level interface that has been added to the on-line Team-effectiveness Learning System (TELS) at the University of Toronto. TELS is an on-line self- and peer-assessment system that allows students to provide intra-team feedback within their project teams. This class-level interface responds to instructor interest in having a better way of assessing and supporting their class’ performance in teamwork as a whole. The interface allows an instructor to assess whether the class has demonstrated sufficient proficiency at teamwork, and/or which areas the class needs to improve to demonstrate proficiency. Launched in September 2015, the class-level interface is currently being used in 5 courses. Preliminary findings indicate the feature to be a useful tool in supporting instructors to tailor their teamwork instruction and activities to the needs of the class.