Paul Josekutty Thomas

Primary barriers to the adoption of team-based learning in higher education pertain to classroom management difficulties regarding the large class size, no access to physical infrastructure, and the lack of implementation of student-centered pedagogical approaches. To overcome these challenges, this study proposes the use of collaborative technological environments in conjunction with teamwork pedagogy. The study investigates this approach by comparing two implementations of a large-size undergraduate course: (a) the in-person mode when an active learning classroom was assigned to the course, and (b) the blended mode when a portion of traditional face-to-face instruction was replaced with web-based online learning to facilitate teamwork interactions. The study used the Team Learning Model to characterize students’ beliefs about their collaborative and social processes as they worked in teams as part of a semester-long project. The results indicated that students exhibited positive attitudes toward teamwork regardless of the delivery mode, with only affective connectedness showing significant differences between the two semesters for the initial survey rounds. However, this difference was no longer present in the later survey rounds, suggesting that the blended learning environment was successful in addressing social interaction and had a similar effect on students’ team-based learning when teaching in-person. Implications relate to the demonstration of the design of a collaborative technological learning environment and the integration of team-based pedagogies to facilitate socialization processes in large class size settings.

Background: We evaluated the effect of three teaching strategies to facilitate teamwork in a systems analysis and design course during the COVID‐19 pandemic: (1) offering a HyFlex version of the course, (2) facilitating scheduled online teamwork sessions for all students, and (3) providing conflict resolution training to help teams overcome collaboration challenges.Purpose/Hypothesis: To identify the impact of these instructional strategies and answer four research questions, we measured (1) performance, dynamics, and cooperation strategies of teams and (2) students' perceptions of their own and team members' performance along with changes in their perceptions of their conflict management skills.Design/Method: We used a simultaneous triangulation mixed‐methods design to obtain distinct but complementary qualitative and quantitative data. We compared data from two offerings of the course: Fall 2019 and Fall 2020 semesters. In the Fall 2019 semester, an in‐person active learning strategy was used, while in the Fall 2020 semester, the course followed a HyFlex delivery mode due to the COVID‐19 pandemic.Results: Findings suggest that the use of cooperative learning pedagogy along with HyFlex accommodations for safety and social distancing requirements for the Fall 2020 semester provided students with a comparable learning experience to a traditional in‐person mode.Conclusions: Learning strategies, pedagogical supports, and teamwork training can enhance social interactions, and consequently, students' social presence in online learning. Conflict resolution training could be a valuable tool for improving teamwork skills and communication among team members.