Courses including team work: considerations for use

Chapter 2 offers a two-step core first recommendation. First, deciding (assuming they have the choice) whether team work-linked learning goals must be a central feature of their class/course. Second, assuming the answer to the first is positive - developing a robust plan (i.e., design) to achieve these learning goals consistently. Instead of offering a cookie-cut approach, this chapter systematically discusses various considerations to explore when designing one’s course (from Institutional Forces to Course Characteristics (level of instruction, the field of study, class size, etc.) to Learning Environments (i.e., modes of delivery) to the Level of Diversity of the Participants). These factors may combine in unique ways in different institutions and courses worldwide. For instance, participants’ diversity, the overall course delivery mode, and the number of participants, to name a few, might be critical design puzzle pieces for some contexts while secondary for others. Regardless of how they combine and how important separately they are in different contexts, all of them must be considered simultaneously to make the more appropriate choices to improve the team and class-wide dynamics likely to unfold when the course is finally delivered.