Team satisfaction, identity, and trust: a comparison of face-to-face and virtual student teams

Our study explores the differences in the experiences and attitudes of students assigned to student teams in online courses versus face-to-face courses. The study was administered to 320 students in 14 sections (eight online and six face-to-face) of a graduate-level course. The results demonstrate that student ratings of team trust, team satisfaction, and team identity as assessed mid-semester are lower in online courses than face-to-face courses. As the semester progressed, these course modality differences in student perceptions of team trust and satisfaction diminished. However, feelings of team identity remained lower in online courses than in face-to-face courses through to the end of the semester. Implications for online instruction and recommendations for future research are offered.