Changing the Way We Teach Teams: How would you do it?Presented by Shauna Jones, Senior Lecturer & Faculty Teaching Fellow Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser UniversityScholarship of Teaching and Learning Symposium, November 6, 2017

In this workshop

By the end of this workshop, you will:• Leave with some ideas of how to move forward in

designing a 100-200 level course to teach students how to work in diverse teams

Agenda1. Use Liberating Structure MIN SPECS to compile a list

of principles for the course2. Hear how we did it at the Beedie School of Business3. Watch a video introducing BUS 202 at Beedie

Your Purpose StatementYou are to design a 100-200 level post-secondary course teaching

students how to work in diverse teams. This course will help students learn to work across diverse teams and to build

emotional intelligence.

MAX SPEC

Process1. Generate list

individually – 1 minute

2. Consolidate and expand in groups – 5 minutes

In terms of the PRINCIPLES of the course list your:“must-dos” “must-not-do”

Your Purpose Statement

You are to design a 100-200 level post-secondary course teaching students

how to work in diverse teams. This course will help students learn to work across diverse teams

and to build emotional intelligence.

If we broke or ignored this principle, could we still achieve our purpose?

MIN SPEC

Our story

Our PrinciplesStudents:• Must have a project through which they learn about being in a

team• Work in a small intact team AND cross-functionally in a larger

group• Write reflections bi-weekly to learn about themselves• Use a behavioural assessment (SDI) to understand self and

others• Participate in a full day Summit for team building and self-

awareness• Complete face-to-face peer evaluation• Weight team assessments higher than individual (60% versus

40%)• Learn from industry professionals (Living Books)• Introduce students to co-curricular experiences in tutorial to

acclimatize and orient to Beedie

In Fall 2014

In Fall 2014

Collaborate EffectivelyWork in larger group, made up of three cross-functional teams to sell a Beedie branded product for the Bookstore- Pitch, recommendations – Bookstore- Mid-term exam- Final verbal report on collaboration- Individual reflections

Learn from Team ExperienceProduct Group Debrief &Evaluation Task Team Evaluation Task Team verbal report

Host Productive Conflict-two sessions with tools-Mid-term and final report

Seek & Use FeedbackGiving & Receiving Feedback ~ Appreciative & Coaching

Understand Self & OthersSummitSDIReflections

In Your ToolkitSDI – MVS, Personal Strengths and Conflict SequenceSummit5 Collaborative Skills

Collaborative IntentionTruthfulnessSelf-AwarenessAccountabilityProblem Solving and Negotiation

In Fall 2016

What we learned

What we learned about institutional requirements

• Teaming and collaboration MUST be reinforced across the curriculum

• Requires changes in how we design curriculum across the program

• Need university supports for international students and language acquisition

What we learned about course design

Starting a new course that is different:• Gets resistance• There was no map – few introductory UG courses teach

teams this way• Takes time to change perception and acceptance• Requires a senior administrator as a champion• Hard to find faculty to teach the material – need

experienced people• Takes collaboration to build and maintain the course• Must live what you teach – takes more time and

resources

• Need to help students be curious about each persons’ uniqueness (culture, personality, preferences, familial and religious beliefs

• Help students learn they are not alone in their fears• Have them learn to give face-to-face feedback - it is

difficult and essential for building a coaching culture• Need to help students build emotional intelligence and

resilience• Help students learn that making mistakes is necessary

for growth and that they have the capacity to solve things

• Need to show them the value of the course

What we have learned about teaching the course

What students learned

“I really appreciate the emphasis on working alongside and supporting people from all backgrounds as SFU’s diversity continues to grow. I have found this to

be a barrier in previous group assignments. Please continue this!”

“Collaboration, to me, is the possibility to create something extraordinary that we cannot do individually.”

“…where collaboration wasn't maintained, things started to slip.”

“Every individual has strengths and vulnerabilities…each individual, in all that they are, brings value.”

“Don’t be afraid of conflict. Productive conflict is how you build as a group.”

“Thank you for teaching me to assert myself and stand my ground.”