FACILITATING STAFF IMPLEMENTATION OF TEAMWORK MEASUREMENT FOR ENGINEERING-RELATED PROJECT-BASED MODULES

In Singapore Polytechnic, teamwork is valued as one of the graduate attributes expected of our students. Teamwork is an important part of the needed interpersonal skills to be developed and assessed as part of the learning outcomes of an engineering curriculum in part 3 of the CDIO (Conceive Design Implement Operate) syllabus. This paper shares the perspectives of teaching staff in implementing teamwork measurement for project-based modules in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. All students will do at least one project-based module in Year 1 and Year 2 for their three-year-long diploma course of study. For the first time in the second semester of the academic year 2021/2022, teamwork measurement in self- and peer-assessment was implemented. In the next academic year, 40 teaching staff responsible for 68 classes of these project-based modules were involved in the first semester. For the second semester, 31 teaching staff, responsible for 52 classes, were involved. Survey findings gathered on staff perspectives in implementing teamwork through self and peer assessment, suggested that amongst others, staff supported its use to develop students’ teamwork skills further as their students were able to gauge their own contributions, as well as those of their teammates. Staff also found it was easy to use for their classes, supported their observations of the students’ teamwork skills and helped staff to identify the “free riders’ in a team project. Overall, the findings will pave the way for improvements in the implementation so that both teaching staff and students are better prepared going forward, to meet the institutional requirement of teamwork measurement. The paper also shares the considerations and challenges faced for such a large-scale implementation.