Gendered Risks of Team-Based Learning: A Model of Inequitable Task Allocation in Project-Based Learning

Fowler, Robin; Su, Magel P.

doi:10.1109/te.2018.2816010

Cited by 41 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Diversity in engineering teams is important beyond the intrinsic value of equity, as diverse teams are better problem solvers [4]. Individuals must have specific knowledge about the benefits of team diversity and how to leverage diverse contributions, however, as in the absence of this knowledge tasks may be inequitably allocated to team members based on biased assumptions about their ability to contribute [5], [6]. Helping students recognize the importance and value of diversity in engineering teams, therefore, may help to create teams that leverage the benefits of their diversity, design more effectively for diverse populations, and create more inclusive learning environments.…”

Section: Activities In First-year Engineering Coursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the Effects of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Activities in First-Year Engineering Classes

Rambo‐Hernandez

Morris

Casper

et al.

2019 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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Section: Activities In First-year Engineering Coursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Examining the Effects of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Activities in First-Year Engineering Classes

Rambo‐Hernandez

Morris

Casper

et al.

2019 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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“…Regarding the first concern, it is commonly observed that students, especially "high-achieving" students, report that team-based learning may affect them negatively academically [21]. Conversely, other students are able to earn higher scores by simply contributing less to the project than their peers [22][23][24][25]. Also, it has been reported that these workload inequalities can develop into social interactions which further exacerbate inequalities and lead to higher levels of dissatisfaction on the team [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Team Project Score: It’s More about Team Harmony and Less about Individual Performance

Chin¹,

Gao²,

Li³

et al.

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings

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Team-based assignments and other collaborative learning methods are common in undergraduate engineering programs across the world, and they are especially prevalent in first-year introductory engineering courses as well as final-year capstone projects. Team-based learning has been shown in previous studies to improve students' academic achievement, persistence, intrinsic motivation, and attitude toward subject areas compared to more traditional methods of learning, and it can be a powerful tool for increasing self-efficacy and experience by allowing students to define their own roles on teams. However, despite the literature supporting team-based learning, it is not a universally positive experience for all students, particularly in cases where team difficulties may intensify pre-existing inequities in the classroom. Because students composing a team can come from vastly different academic backgrounds with different levels of experience with engineering, a team's overall performance may be linked to the performance of students on individual assignments.In this paper, we investigate how individual student performance is related to overall student team performance in a first-year engineering design-build-test-communicate course. Furthermore, we investigate the relationship between individual students' ratings of their teams and teammates and the scores earned collectively by the team. Specifically, we analyze student responses to weekly team checks, individual student performance ratings as rated by their teammates, and individual student performance on individual class assignments, and compare these metrics to the overall team grades earned by their respective team. The results suggest a positive, though insignificant, trend between teams with more positive weekly team checks and higher overall team grades. We also find a significant trend between teammates who rate each other highly for "producing quality work" and earning higher grades on the team project. Furthermore, we find that individual student performance is not significantly correlated with grades earned on the team project. Finally, we observe a negative, though insignificant, trend between teams with a higher standard deviation of individual student exam performances (bigger spread) and overall team grades. That is, teams with more dispersion in exam performance earn lower grades in this sample.

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“…Implicit bias on student teams is often theorized to influence the prioritization of ideas expressed by white male students over those expressed by their female counterparts or teammates of color [1]. In addition, a gender-correlated division of work often occurs on student-teams, with men doing the more technical tasks of the project, leaving women to often fill the remaining organizational and managerial positions on the team [2], [3], [4]. Reasoning for this type of behavior is often linked to differences in student learning goals for a course, whether that be mastery orientation (motivation to understand the material), performance orientation (motivation to earn grades or favor) or performance-avoidance orientation (motivation to avoid appearing less competent than fellow peers) [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, a gender-correlated division of work often occurs on student-teams, with men doing the more technical tasks of the project, leaving women to often fill the remaining organizational and managerial positions on the team [2], [3], [4]. Reasoning for this type of behavior is often linked to differences in student learning goals for a course, whether that be mastery orientation (motivation to understand the material), performance orientation (motivation to earn grades or favor) or performance-avoidance orientation (motivation to avoid appearing less competent than fellow peers) [3]. Previous literature suggests that gender-based variations in self-efficacy also play a role in task allocation on teams [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Evidence Regarding Gendered Task Allocation on Teams

Strehl

Fowler

2019 ASEE Annual Conference &Amp; Exposition Proceedings

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Elizabeth is an undergraduate student at the University of Michigan studying Biomedical Engineering and Applied Mathematics. She has worked as a research assistant for Dr. Robin Fowler in the Technical Communication Department of the College of Engineering for several years focusing on team dynamics for first-year students and also works as a research assistant in the Daly Design and Engineering Education Research Group working on design science based research in senior-level engineering design courses.

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Gendered Risks of Team-Based Learning: A Model of Inequitable Task Allocation in Project-Based Learning

Cited by 41 publications

References 30 publications

Examining the Effects of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Activities in First-Year Engineering Classes

Examining the Effects of Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity Activities in First-Year Engineering Classes

Predicting Team Project Score: It’s More about Team Harmony and Less about Individual Performance

Experimental Evidence Regarding Gendered Task Allocation on Teams

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