Pilar Pazos

Connecting to the Professor: Impact of the Student–Faculty Relationship in a Highly Challenging Course

While many factors play into college student success, interaction with faculty has been identified as a key component. In highly challenging and anxiety-provoking courses, the student–faculty relationship may be all the more important. This study uses organic chemistry as a case example to investigate the role of the student–faculty relationship in such a setting. The study surveys 113 undergraduates in six organic chemistry courses to examine the relationship of student–faculty relationship to grade, course confidence, and sense of science identity. In regression analyses, student–faculty relationship positively predicted grade as well as confidence, but not science identity. Suggestions for faculty practices are offered.

Developing an instrument to characterise peer‐led groups in collaborative learning environments: assessing problem‐solving approach and group interaction

Collaborative learning is being used extensively by educators at all levels. Peer‐led team learning in a version of collaborative learning that has shown consistent success in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines. Using a multi‐phase research study we describe the development of an observation instrument that can be used to assess peer‐led group learning. This paper illustrates the development of a classification system for peer‐led learning groups and an instrument based on this classification system. The instrument evaluates small learning groups on two important aspects of group learning: problem solving approach and group interaction style. We provide evidence of the factor structure of the two dimensions using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. We also provide information about the reliability of the two scales as measured by the Cronbachs alpha coefficient. Data from a large peer‐led learning programme was used to conduct the factor analysis. Results from the factor analysis confirmed that the instrument is actually measuring two key characteristics of small learning groups: problem solving approach and group interaction style, characteristics that have been linked to effective functioning of the group and to the student learning outcomes. This instrument may be particularly appealing to practitioners (faculty members, those running small‐group learning programmes, etc.) because it is easy to use and it does not require extensive time for analysis.

Conflict management and effectiveness in virtual teams

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the role of goal‐oriented attitudes and behaviors as antecedents of conflict management and the subsequent impact of conflict management on team outcomes in virtual teams. Of particular interest is the role of “commitment to team goals” as a predictor of successful conflict management and the subsequent impact of conflict management on team outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – This paper describes the results from a quasi‐experimental study examining the relationships among commitment to team goals, conflict management and team outcomes in virtual teams. First, it provides an in depth review of relevant empirical findings. Next, it describes a study examining the relationships between three sets of variables: commitment to team goals; conflict management; and team outcomes (performance and attitudinal) in the context of virtual teams. Data were collected from 141 students grouped in 39 teams size 3 to 4 that were part of four cohorts of an Engineering Management cour...

Worrying about What Others Think: A Social-Comparison Concern Intervention in Small Learning Groups.

Small-group learning has become commonplace in education at all levels. While it has been shown to have many benefits, previous research has demonstrated that it may not always work to the advantage of every student. One potential problem is that less-prepared students may feel anxious about participating, for fear of looking “dumb” in front of their peers. This study examines the impact of an intervention to reduce that sort of anxiety—termed social-comparison concern—in small learning groups at the university level. Over the course of an academic quarter (10 weeks), 144 students in 33 small learning groups participated in the study. Approximately one-third received an intervention designed to reduce social-comparison concern by modifying theories of intelligence and attributions for failure. One-third received a study-skills intervention, and the remaining third received no extra resources. The findings suggest that the intervention was successful and that instructors may want to infuse small-group work with discussion of the malleable nature of intelligence and of the reasons for academic success and failure.

Instant Messaging as a Task-Support Tool in Information Technology Organizations

Fast-paced organizational environments and growing needs for permanent and fast connectivity have steered the adoption of technologies such as instant messaging (IM) for organizational communication. However, the use of IM as a communication tool to support task completion is not well understood. This article reports on an exploratory mixed methods study investigating the use of IM as a communication tool to support task completion and multitasking in information technology organizations. The main purpose was to investigate IM use to support two types of tasks: collaboration and conflict tasks. We used a mixed methods approach incorporating quantitative and qualitative data from interviews and survey instruments. Results from the quantitative analysis suggest a significantly greater use of IM for collaboration tasks than for cognitive conflict tasks. The qualitative data helped in identifying specific tasks in the information technology corporate environment whose completion is supported by IM use. Those tasks were mapped into an existing task framework and analyzed using qualitative methods. Results from the qualitative analysis were used to complement and support the quantitative findings. A secondary goal of this article was to explore the use of IM to support multitasking. Descriptive results on use of IM to multitask are presented. The article concludes with a discussion of the main implications of this study for communication managers.

Performance patterns in face‐to‐face and computer‐supported teams

Purpose – This paper presents a longitudinal experimental study on teams with the purpose of investigating the impact of communication media on decision‐making teams. The authors aims to achieve that by comparing face‐to‐face (FTF) and computer‐supported (CS) teams over a series of three sessions on three response variables: performance, cohesiveness, and synergy.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 24 teams, each of five students, participated in three separate decision‐making sessions in which they solved a survival simulation scenario. Each team was randomly assigned to either face‐to‐face (FTF) or computer‐supported (CS) communication condition. The analysis compared overall means and mean patterns over time on the three response variables across the two communication media.Findings – Results suggest that there were no differences in overall performance between CS and FTF teams and no differences in performance changes over time between the two media; there were no overall differences in overall s...

Small-Group Learning in Undergraduate STEM Disciplines: Effect of Group Type on Student Achievement.

Small-group learning in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines has been widely studied, and it is clear that this method offers many benefits to students. Less attention has been paid to the ways in which small learning groups differ from one another, and how these differences may affect student learning and experiential outcomes. This study uses a previously validated instrument to categorize, or type, small peer-led STEM learning groups, and then to investigate the impact of group characteristics on student outcomes. Six hundred and forty-six students were observed over 2 academic quarters. During the fall quarter, no relationship was found between group type and student course grade. During the winter quarter, statistically significant differences in student grade were found among group types. We posit that group type may not make a difference in grade early in the year because the groups are not yet functioning optimally, so that group “noise”, such as facilitator inexperience or student discomfort, may drown out the effects of group type on student performance.

Entering the Community of Practitioners: A Science Research Workshop Model

Bernhard Streitwieser is a senior research associate at Northwestern University’s Searle Center for Teaching Excellence, a teaching associate in the School of Education and Social Policy, and a former lecturer in the German department. Greg Light is the director of the Searle Center and an associate professor in the School of Education and Social Policy. He has taught postgraduate courses in higher and professional education and consulted across the higher and professional education sector in the UK, the US, and Canada. Pilar Pazos is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Management & Systems Engineering at Old Dominion University. Previously she held a joint position at Northwestern’s Searle Center and the VaNTH (Vanderbilt, Northeastern, Texas, Harvard/MIT) Engineering Research Center.

Professional Development Training for Engineering Managers

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to assist engineering managers in developing a better understanding of how to meet the number of professional development hours (PDHs) required by state engineering licensing boards in order to become a registered professional engineer. A study was conducted to identify the total number of PDH units for all engineers across the United States and individual state requirements. The article discusses the various methods that can be used by engineering managers to satisfy PDH units toward state engineering registration. State laws regulating professional development as well as particular engineering management focus areas are identified in this article.

Self-Managing Team Performance: A Systematic Review of Multilevel Input Factors:

Organizations need flexible and adaptable structures to thrive in an increasingly turbulent business environment. Self-managing team (SMT) structures have evolved as an optimal approach to increase flexibility and performance as evidenced by their documented proliferation in organizations. However, even with their broad organizational adoption, research shows inconsistencies concerning SMT’s potential to enhance performance. This review integrates prior empirical research on input factors that influence the successful implementation of high-performing SMTs. Using a prior team effectiveness framework as a lens, we conducted a systematic analysis of the literature to shed light into the variables at the individual, team, and organizational level that affect performance and successful implementation of SMT. The sample of studies resulted from an exhaustive search that included quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. Last, we present gaps in the literature and propose future directions for research on SMTs.