Teaming assessment: is there a connection between process and product?

Abstract

It is reasonable to suspect that team process influences the way students work, the quality of their learning and the excellence of their product. This study addresses the relations between team process variables on the one hand, and behaviors and outcomes, on the other. We measured teaming skill, project behavior and performance, and project product grades. We found that knowledge of team process predicts team behavior, but that knowledge alone does not predict performance on the project. Second, both effort and team skills, as assessed by peers, were related to performance. Third, team skills did not correlate with the students' effort. This pattern of results suggests that instructors should address issues of teaming and of effort separately. It also suggests that peer ratings of teammates tap aspects of team behavior relevant to project performance, whereas declarative knowledge of team process does not.