Assisting teams to learn about their teams: Preliminary experiences with team-based assessment software in face-to-face and online teams

Team dynamics, regardless of task complexity, challenge organizations. Learning institutions are the ideal environment for team learning experiences, and serve as a practice forum for a student's professional career. The objective of this paper is to describe the settings and outcomes of the adoption of a structured methodology and software application to support team learning. The research reports preliminary results from using Team Learning Assistant (TLA), a web-based team assessment system developed by Boston University's Center for Team Learning to carry out team interactions in face-to-face and distance learning classrooms. The TLA system was used to help the students structure their team experiences, and assist with problem-solving skills while also providing instructors with access to a web-driven database for peer assessment data capture and analysis. The pilot study placed emphasis on understanding team learning dynamics and student responses to specific tasks, including assessing their peers' performance. Peer assessment outcomes in online and face-to-face courses are compared. The results show that, on average, students' perceptions of their peers' leadership and task performance are higher in the face-to-face classroom. This finding may help instructors to increase efforts to better address leadership issues in virtual teamwork management.