Abstract
Educators in Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) are under constant pressure to improve their educational practices such as teaching. Adding to the challenges are the need to expose, and as a result equip students, with practical real life skills such as project management. Lack of behavioural aspects (also referred to as ‘soft skills’) is often identified as main contributing factor to the failure of projects. Whilst many educational programmes focus on the technical aspects of project management, the behavioural aspects of project management are often neglected. In an attempt to address these challenges, an experiential learning approach (ELA) was adopted to expose students to team dynamics and team roles. The research question was: How effective was the adoption of an experiential learning approach to introduce students to the theoretical constructs of team development and the subsequent roles fulfilled by team members? This question was investigated after allowing students to complete a team-based activity, whereby students had to build a tower using straws, sticky tape and cardboard in an attempt to identify and explain Tuckman’s phases as well as Belbin’s team roles. The findings of our study, based on survey data completed by students on completion of their activity, indicated the experiential learning approach is successful in teaching students the practical aspects associated with Tuckman’s stages of team development as well as Belbin’s team roles. The lessons learnt from this experience are given as recommendations to educators to improve the learning experiences associated with ELA in the context of project management.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
References
Ashleigh, M., Ojiako, U., Chipulu, M., Wang, J.K.: Critical learning themes in project management education: implications for blended learning. Int. J. Proj. Manag. 30(2), 153–161 (2012)
Basadur, M., Head, M.: Team performance and satisfaction: a link to cognitive style within a process framework. J. Creative Behav. 35(4), 227–248 (2001)
Belbin, R.M.: Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail. Butterworth-Heineman, Oxford (1996)
Belbin, R.M.: Team Roles at Work. Butterworth-Heineman, Oxford (1999)
Betts, S., Healy, W.: Having a ball catching on to teamwork: an experiential learning approach to teaching the phases of group development. Acad. Educ. Leadersh. J. 19(2), 1–9 (2015)
Chen, K.C.: Building an experiential learning model for a project management course. Am. J. Bus. Educ. 44(2), 87–92 (2009)
Clarke, V., Braun, V.: Teaching thematic analysis: overcoming challenges and developing strategies for effective learning. Psychologist 26(2), 120–123 (2013)
Cook, L.S., Olson, J.R.: The sky’s the limit: an activity for teaching project management. J. Manag. Educ. 30(3), 404–420 (2006)
Córdoba, J.R., Piki, A.: Facilitating project management education through groups as systems. Int. J. Proj. Manag. 30(1), 83–93 (2012)
Ellis, R., Watson, C.: Experiential learning: the development of communication skills in a group therapy setting. Nurs. Educ. Today 7(5), 215–221 (1987)
Fitzgerald, B., Howcroft, D.: Competing dichotomies in IS research and possible strategies for resolution. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 1998, pp. 155–164 (1998)
Gentry, J.W.: What is experiential learning. In: Guide to Business Gaming and Experiemtial Learning, Chap. 2, pp. 9–20 (1990)
Houghton, S.A.: Managing stereotypes through experiential learning. Intercult. Comm. Stud. XIX(1), 182–198 (2010)
Hussain, A., Mkpojiogu, E.O.: Requirements: towards an understanding on why software projects fail. In: Proceedings of AIP Conferences Proceedings, vol. 1761, no. 1 (2016)
Janse van Rensburg, J.T., Goede, R.: A reflective practice approach for supporting IT skills required by industry through project-based learning. In: Kabanda, S., et al. (eds.) SACLA 2018. CCIS, vol. 963, pp. 253–266. Springer, Heidelberg (2018)
Jenner, S.: Why do projects ‘fail’ and more to the point, what can we do about it? The case for disciplined, ‘fast and frugal’ decision-making. Management 45(2), 6–19 (2015)
Kayes, A.B., Kayes, D.C., Kolb, D.A.: Experiential learning in teams. Simul. Gaming 36(3), 330–354 (2005)
Kolb, D.A., Boyatzis, R., Mainemelis, C.: Experiential learning theory: previous research and new directions. In: Perspectives on Cognitive Learning and Thinking Styles, pp. 228–247. Erlbaum, Mahwah (2000)
Laal, M., Geranpaye, L., Daemi, M.: Individual accountability in collaborative learning. Procedia Soc. Behav. Sci. 93, 286–289 (2013)
Larson, E., Drexler, J.A.: Project management in real time: a service-learning project. J. Manag. Educ. 34(4), 551–573 (2010)
Meslec, N., Curseu, P.L.: Are balanced groups better? Belbin roles in collaborative learning groups. Learn. Individ. Diff. 39, 81–88 (2015)
Namputhiri, M.R.K.: Experiential learning method for enhancing communication skill of tertiary level L2 learners in Thrissur district. Doctoral dissertation, Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences, India (2013)
Natvig, D., Stark, N.: A project team analysis using Tuckman’s model of small-group development. J. Nurs. Educ. 55(12), 675–681 (2016)
Nojima, A., Ravia, J., Hongu, N.: Communication skills development through experiential learning in nutritional sciences. FASEB J. 31(1 suppl.), 975–976 (2017)
Ojiako, U., Ashleigh, M., Chipulu, M., Maguire, S.: Learning and teaching challenges in project management. Int. J. Proj. Manag. 29(3), 268–278 (2011)
Ontario Ministry of Education: Community-connected experiential learning: A policy framework for Ontario schools, Kindergarten to Grade 12. Gov. Communic., Canada. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/job/passport/ CommunityConnected_ExperientialLearningEng.pdf
Pieterse, V., van Eekelen, M.: Which are harder? Soft skills or hard skills? In: Gruner, S. (ed.) SACLA 2016. CCIS, vol. 642, pp. 160–167. Springer, Cham (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47680-3_15
Pieterse, V., Leeu, M., van Eekelen, M.: How personality diversity influences team performance in student software engineering teams. In: Proceedings of IEEE Conference on Information Communications Technology and Society, ICTAS 2018 (2018)
du Plessis, Y.: Project Management: A Behavioural Perspective. Pearson, London (2014)
Ramazani, J., Jergeas, G.: Project managers and the journey from good to great: the benefits of investment in project management training and education. Int. J. Proj. Manag. 33(1), 41–52 (2015)
Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M.: Critical Reflection in Nursing and the Helping Professions: A User Guide. Palgrave, Basingstoke (2001)
Rwelamila, P.D., Ssegawa, J.K.: The African project failure syndrome: the conundrum of project management knowledge base – the case of SADC. J. Afr. Bus. 15(3), 211–224 (2014)
Smith, G., Yates, P.: Team role theory in higher education: Part 1/3. Belbin Media: Train. J. March, 37–40 (2011)
Sweet, B.V., et al.: Moving from individual roles to functional teams: a semester-long course in case-based decision making. J. Interprof. Educ. Pract. 7, 11–16 (2017)
Tuberville, K., Danhower, C.: Using experiential learning concepts in new course designs: experiential learning in managing employee wellness and managerial leadership. In: Proceedings of Annual Meeting Southwest Academy of Management, Little Rock, pp. 98–104 (2017)
Tuckman, B.W.: Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychol. Bull. 63(6), 384–399 (1965)
Tuckman, B.W., Jensen, M.A.C.: Stages of small group development revisited. Gr. Organ. Stud. 2(4), 419–427 (1977)
Wurdinger, S., Allison, P.: Faculty perceptions and use of experiential learning in higher education. J. e-Learning Knowl. Soc. 13(1), 15–26 (2017)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this paper
Cite this paper
Eybers, S., Hattingh, M.J. (2019). The Last Straw: Teaching Project Team Dynamics to Third-Year Students. In: Kabanda, S., Suleman, H., Gruner, S. (eds) ICT Education. SACLA 2018. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 963. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05813-5_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05813-5_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-05812-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-05813-5
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)