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Teams in the cooperative
learning classroom are formed by the teacher. Self-selected
teams may be composed of groups of students who all have
similar skills and therefore are lacking the requisite
skills to complete particular tasks or assignments. They may
be composed of individuals with similar academic
achievement, while a range of academic achievement would
better ensure that all teams will acquire the knowledge and
skills needed for success in the course. Finally,
self-selected teams are almost always comprised of members
of the same ethnic group or of the same national origin,
when it would benefit students to learn to work with a
diverse range of colleagues.
Teams should be
heterogeneous. Common criteria for forming teams include
achievement, ethnicity, gender, skills, or experience.
Relevant skills and experience for forming teams can differ
greatly from class to class. Skills with particular computer
programs often very variable among students, yet may be
critical for accomplishing course goals. In some cases,
faculty might want to use multidisciplinary teams; in
others, mixing students with industry experience and no
experience might be the most important criteria.
A/CL teams are small,
composed of no more than five members. It's easy for
students to free-ride in a team of eight, but not
participating in a group of two is hard to hide. The actual
size of the team may be determined by a number of factors:
the type of assignment, the layout of the room, or the
equipment the team needs to use.
Finally, while faculty may
use ad hoc groupings for informal active learning
assignments in class, formal cooperative learning teams are
stable. Typically they change no more than twice during the
semester and often stay together all semester if working on
extensive projects.
To learn more about
strategies and criteria for forming teams in engineering
classrooms, consult our faculty and experts below.
Experts
Darwyn
Linder
Professor and Chair,
Department of Psychology
Arizona State University
 Karl
Smith
Professor of Civil Engineering
Institute of Technology, University of Minnesota
Richard
Felder
Hoechst Celanese
Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemical Engineering
North Carolina State University
Faculty
P.K.
Imbrie
Assistant Professor of Engineering,
Department of Freshman Engineering
Purdue University
Richard
Layton
Assistant Professor of Mechanical
Engineering
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Russ
Pimmel
Professor of Electrical Engineering
University of Alabama
Jim
Morgan
Associate Professor
of Civil Engineering
Texas A&M University
Greg Raupp
Associate Dean for
Research, Engineering College
Arizona State University
Jim
Richardson
Associate Professor
in the Civil Engineering Department
University of Alabama
Ron
Roedel
Professor of
Electrical Engineering
Arizona State University
Susan Urban
Professor of Computer
Science and Engineering
Arizona State University
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