OERS_JBaugh_TeamDynamicsStudy_Phase2_March2016

EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF TEAM DYNAMICS ON
ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCE:
A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY AT THREE LEVELS OF
HIGHER EDUCATION – PHASE 2
Oxford Education Research Symposium
Dr. Joseph B. Baugh
University of Phoenix
March 18, 2016

Speaker
 Academic Experience
 Bachelor of Science – Computer Science: University of Arizona
 MBA – Eller Graduate School of Management: University of Arizona
 Ph.D. – Organization and Management w/ specialization in
Leadership: Capella University
 Teaching Experience
 Undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral level classes
 Cochise College
 University of Arizona
 University of Phoenix
 Professional certification and technical training classes
 Professional Experience
 Electrical Systems: Operations and Maintenance
 Information Technology: Project and Program Management
 Critical Public Infrastructure: Cyber Security Compliance
OERS: Examining Team Dynamics© 2016 - Dr. Joseph B. Baugh
2

Study Background
 Collected data at three levels of higher education:
1. Lower Division Undergraduate: Information Technology
courses (2006-2013)
2. Upper Division Undergraduate: Supervision, Leadership,
Business courses (2006-2013)
3. Graduate/Doctoral: Business Strategy, Leadership,
Management, Organizational Behavior (2009-2013)
 Quantitative and qualitative data collected
simultaneously.
 Data analyzed and reported in two phases:
 Phase 1: Quantitative Data (presented at OERS in 2014)
 Phase 2: Qualitative Data (current presentation)
3

Problem Statement
4
 Students are often resistant to team-based projects in
academia and may participate in these projects
reluctantly, if at all.
 “I believe that this exercise has done nothing for me
personally and professionally.”
 “It seems that you need to be on the learning thread constantly
so you are not lost in the exercise. I truly see no value in
the group exercises.”
 “Personally, I don’t even like working in teams across
the world, and will more than likely never have to in my chosen
profession. So I am not likely to use this in the near future.”

Research Questions
5
 The research questions in this mixed-methods study were
two-fold.
 The quantitative component in Phase 1 examined the impact
of the peer review evaluations upon the overall team
performance on group projects.
 The research question for this segment asked, “What is the relationship
between peer review scores and the team project outcomes?”
 Phase 2 examined the perceptions reported by students
relative to team projects to better understand the overall
learning team dynamic:
 “What are the students’ perceptions of the value of the team experience?”
and
 “How did the team experience impact the students’ perceived personal
and professional growth?”

Data Collection
 Data collected simultaneously for Phase 1 and Phase
2 studies from 2006 through 2013, inclusive.
 Data collected via a Peer Review Form.
 The peer review was a component of the graded
group project assignment for each of the classes in
the study.
 Quantitative data was analyzed and reported at
OERS in March 2014 (Phase 1).
6

Phase 1 Summary
 The results of the
quantitative data analysis
was reported at OERS
(March 2014).
 Phase 1 confirmed a
strong positive
relationship between peer
review ratings and team
project outcomes.
 The balance of this
presentation examines the
qualitative data
7

Qualitative Data Collection
 As part of the Peer Review Form, students responded
to two open-ended questions.
 The two questions considered individual perceptions
of the overall team experience:
 What are the most important concepts you have learned from
the team experience?
 How will you use those concepts to improve both personally and
professionally?
8

Preparing the Data
9
 Each record represents an
individual student response pair.
 The dataset contains 506 records:
 105 lower division [LD] undergraduate
records (2006-2013)
 133 upper division [UD] undergraduate
records (2006-2013)
 268 graduate and doctoral [GD] records
(2009-2013)
 The dataset was split by question
and academic level to facilitate
coding and subsequent analysis.

Analyzing the Data
10
 Analyzed raw response data in HyperResearch®
(v3.0.3) QDAS package.
 Primary unit of analysis was the phrase.
 Also included whole sentences, when appropriate.
 Used multiple passes (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) to
code response segments.
 Some segments were coded with multiple codes to maintain the
context of complex sentences.
 Grouped initial and axial codes into major themes.
 Developed findings and conclusions from the themes.

Analyzing the Data
11
 Provisional start list of codes (Miles & Huberman,
1994) suggested by initial preliminary review of the
data set, while loading the data into the text files for
subsequent analysis using the QDAS package:

Analyzing the Data
12
 Developed additional codes
during the initial or open
coding pass (Seidel &
Urquhart, 2013, p. 239).
 Renamed and combined
various codes during the
initial and axial coding passes.
 After two coding passes, the
data included:
 46 codes
 1837 coded segments

Identifying the Issues
13
 A report completed after
the axial coding pass
indicated a heavy focus
on several of the codes.
 Many of the codes were
observed to have
commonalities and were
grouped into major
themes during the
selective coding pass.

Grouping the Codes
14
 Three major themes
were developed from the
46 codes
 Collaboration,
Communications, and
Critical Thinking were
deemed common to all
three themes
 There is some overlap
between the three
selective code groups

Discussion on Selected Themes
16
 Communication was remarked upon in a significant
manner.
 The data indicated strong interest by the team members
on improving levels of collaboration, engagement, and
participation for all team members.
 There is a need to develop project management skills, soft
skills, and team skills.
 As part of a general movement to increase Critical
Thinking capacities across the curriculum, group projects
should focus on the development of these capacities.
 Course developers and instructors should consider ways
to help students improve these facets through group
projects.

Communications
17
 Developing good communications between team members
was the number one concern across all levels and was
recognized widely as an area for improvement.
 “I realize more than ever that open communication is important when
working within a team environment.”
 “I have learned that I need to not be just a passive participant and
work in the background, but need to put myself more out there. I need
to communicate more with email (I dislike it as a form of
communication).”
 “My approach to communicating with others should ensure I continue
to make progress to behaving appropriately in personal and
professional settings.”
 “The absence of directly meeting face to face has been a challenge for
me because the virtual team loses the essence of group dynamics and
personal interaction.”
 “I have learned that effective communication, collaboration, and time
management are essential for a successful team.”

Collaboration
18
 Collaboration (169) also incorporates similar themes:
 Participation (71), Commitment (43), and Engagement (27).
 Students recognized the importance of Collaboration
 “Each LT experience strengthens my ability to work with others
in a team setting.”
 “It takes everyone in the group to complete a task successfully
and on time.”
 “I will use this learning to improve both personally and
professionally by realizing the value of working in a team
environment, sharing information, and supporting new ideas.”
 “Working in a team, communicating and sharing ideas to
accomplish a goal is something that I can apply to both home
and work.”

Participation
19
 Many students commented on the adverse impacts of
failure of various team members to fully participate in
the team process:
 “I found it frustrating when <two team members> failed to
complete the SAS assessment regarding conflict and submit
their scores prior to the Team Charter being due.
Unfortunately, this was a scenario that each team member had
to complete the test him or herself so the Team Charter was
incomplete.”
 “Unfortunately due to severe lack of participation by some of
our members, our failure as a group to schedule meetings and
stay on track early and simply just school fatigue at this point
given my schedule and school work load I was not able to
provide my best and that troubles me.”

Engagement
20
 Engagement was also recognized as an area of
improvement:
 “What I have really absorbed about the Learning Team
Experience is the way in which the general principle of Staying
Engaged is magnified in the e-learning environment, but how
important it is to all interactions.”
 “Staying engaged in a team dynamics is always required in
either setting. But the e-environment magnifies this component
to such an extent, for me, that it brings home the importance of
staying engaged in all dynamic interactions.”
 “What I have learned is that it is not possible to work together as
a group without a shared vision, with no agreed-upon mission,
without basic communication standards, and with a rejection of
any planning.”

Critical Thinking Capacities
21
 Developing critical thinking capacities should go hand in
glove with group projects. Some students recognized this:
 “I have learned from my learning team how to promote a critical and
innovating thinking environment, by receiving and providing team
member advice.”
 “Effective adult learners must be able to think critically, self-regulate
their learning process, be eager and willing to learn new things, and
yet not be afraid of making mistakes or failing. This is what I am
learning in this program. Individuals who are willing to challenge
their long held assumptions and question the very with which their
assumptions were formed are considered to be critical thinkers. This is
an important concept that I feel is crucial with the Learning Team.”
 Others included critical thinking concepts indirectly:
 “The key concepts I use when approaching a team environment are
communication, enquiring and fact finding, appreciation for
differences, and reflection once assignment is complete.”

Project Management [PM]
22
 The need for sound PM skills was expressed:
 “I have learned that a team leader and a plan of action with a
time table is important to a group project and that there should
be some sort of accountability other then a grade for a project to
succeed.”
 “Overall having a plan of action in place with concrete timeline
kept the team on track.”
 PM skills were deemed more important in classes that
focused on project management:
 “We developed a team charter and stuck to it. When
assignments were due, we plan ahead of time and divided the
assignments up equally and without any difficulty.”

Time Management
23
 Time management emerged as a significant theme, but
was often intertwined with other codes:
 “Important concepts learned from the learning team experience was
the importance of identifying project goals, assignments and due
dates at the beginning. This helped with effective time management
and understanding and working together to meet the goals and
objective successfully.”
 “The team worked hard but unfortunately not equally. Some people
do the minimum required and expect others to pick up the slack.
Overall, having a plan of action in place with a concrete timeline kept
the team on track. No one needs to lead but everyone needs to be on
the same page for the final paper to work.”
 “Advance planning and preparation are important when last minute
revisions and unexpected situations occur within a team.”
 “No matter how much we prepared for the challenging team papers,
time was still the most critical element to beat. This is the first time
that I belonged to a very small team.”

Implications of the Study
24
 Course developers and instructors should design group
exercises that support improvement of Communications
and Collaboration while developing and enhancing
Critical Thinking capacities.
 One practice that I have begun using as a result of this
study is to require a mandatory Learning Team Charter
as the first graded group assignment.
 I have also begun designing and implementing group
projects that challenge higher-order thinking skills.
 Other actions include helping students manage time on
task by introducing phased group assignments, rather
than one large assignment due at the end of the term.

Designing Challenging Projects
25
 Design projects that incorporate Bloom’s revised
taxonomy (e.g., Armstrong, n. d.) and include specific
components to challenge, develop, and enhance
critical thinking skills:
 Apply knowledge in a new way,
 Analyze data to develop new connections,
 Evaluate the project plan to justify decision-making,
 Create new or original work, and
 Reflect upon the project and incorporate lessons-learned.
 Require regular formal status updates during project.
 Provide timely constructive feedback to help students
focus on specific issues.

Caveats for Challenging Projects
26
 Some students may object to challenging projects that
require extensive participation by all members:
 “This was the most ill-conceived assignment for this level of college.
What I did learn is to make sure that the task fits the environment.
Further, we took this lesson to work and hired out a project that we
knew was beyond our capabilities. There was also no choice in team
members, most of whom never responded at all to the posts. If I had
been able to change teams when I realized I was in a dead-end group it
may have gone better. Lesson learned.” (2014 Student)
 More students will embrace the project as a learning
opportunity:
 “The whole network design project was a great opportunity to apply
some of what I have learned over the years, along with what I have
learned in this course.”
 “This experience will benefit me when participating in team projects
on the job and while I finish out my academic venture.”

Implement Learning Team Charters
27
 Learning Team Charters can improve Communications
and Engagement, as well as help students begin the
Project Management learning process.
 A good Learning Team Charter should include sections
that target specific team goals:
 Rules and guidelines for overall Team Behavior
 Communications section
 Share contact information
 Best times for contact
 Preferred communications modes
 Communications technology capabilities
 Guidelines for team conflict resolution
 Expectations for team participation and task deliverables
 Signature block for each team member

Possibilities for Future Research
28
 Follow-up with another study to measure impacts of
implemented changes (2014 – present):
 Learning Team Charters
 Challenging group exercises
 Phased deliverables
 Pursue the same study across multiple courses
taught by different faculty members to account for
idiosyncratic grading practices by a single faculty
member.
 Reorder and analyze the dataset by academic level to
compare/contrast learning team experiences across
the range of students.

Questions
29
 The two phases will be
integrated into a single
paper and submitted for
peer review and possible
publication subsequent
to this presentation.
 Your questions may help
finalize the paper.

References
30
 Armstrong, Patricia. Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University:
Center for Teaching, (n. d.). Retrieved from
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/
 Corbin, Juliet, and Anselm Strauss. Basics of Qualitative Research
(3rd ed.): Techniques and Procedures for Developing Grounded
Theory. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 2008. doi:
http://dx.doi.org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.4135/97814522301
53.
 Miles, M. B., and A. M. Huberman. Qualitative data analysis (2nd
ed.): An expanded sourcebook. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Publications, Inc., 1994
 Seidel, S., & Urquhart, C. (2013). On emergence and forcing in
information systems grounded theory studies: The case of Strauss
and Corbin. Journal of Information Technology, 28(3), 237-260.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/jit.2013.17

OERS_JBaugh_TeamDynamicsStudy_Phase2_March2016

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