Interpersonal Interactions in Engineering Teams: Findings from a Multi-year Mixed Methods Study at Three Institutions

Abstract

Raised in South Florida, born in Mexico. Half Colombian and half Mexican; proud Mexilombian. Héctor acquired an MS in Computer Engineering and is a PhD candidate in Engineering Education, both at Purdue University. His research interests are investigating the experiences of LGBTQ+ students in engineering and tapping into critical methodologies and methods for conducting and analyzing research.

Perspectives on Active Learning: Challenges for Equitable Active Learning Implementation

“…In terms of inside-classroom activities , groupwork can foster positive relationships between students, encouraging peer-to-peer interactions, but research has shown students of color, especially African American and Hispanic/Latinx students, expressed that groupwork can be unwelcoming due to problematic stereotypes about perceived intelligence and work ethic, which can range from microinvalidation (messages of exclusion) to microinsult (demeaning prejudiced communication) to microassaults (explicit prejudiced derogatory messages) . Other problems with groupwork were revealed in a study in an undergraduate biology course which found that (1) students failed to use role assignment and group contracts without supervision; (2) peer-evaluation comments were not useful for identifying group dysfunction; (3) peer ratings were often biased against low-scoring and low-performing students; and (4) time constrains often pushed students to disregard collaboration for delegation. − …”

Revisiting Tuckman’s Team Development Model in First-year Engineering Multicultural Teams

“…The teamwork Failure Prevention Questionnaire, as the name suggests, is a instrument that can help teams potential weakness [10]. Instructors commonly use Tuckman's team developmental model [11][12] to help teams understand team processes-to preview what the team might experience next and to move as quickly as possible to a higher level of functioning [13][14][15]. Due to first-year students' lack of maturity and experiences working in multicultural teams, we wonder if the developmental models of such student teams could be categorized or essentialized as Tuckman's model.…”