iCons used to study the effectiveness of team-based learning among STEM students

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The STEM workforce, employers and scientific organizations value employees who can work well in a collaborative team environment to solve the world's multifaceted problems. But ask current college undergraduates, particularly those in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), if they like working in teams or in graded group projects and most likely the negative responses will outnumber the positive.

Ryan Wells, director of the Center for Student Success Research (CSSR) and professor of higher education in the College of Education, explains that a free-rider factor may be the reason, coupled with the concern of a less-than-desirable overall group grade.

"Sometimes, team-based learning leaves students with a negative impression," Wells said. "They say things like, 'I had a slacker on my team. It would have been easier to do this myself.' Or even if positive, they may say something like, 'We divvied up the work. It was fine.'"

Would the perception be different if students in multiple STEM disciplines collaborated in a program that doesn't grade or score and had assignments resembling real-world challenges facing today's societies?

A CSSR research team led by Wells tackled that question and specifically the effectiveness of team-based learning and interdisciplinary design of the Integrated Concentration in STEM (iCons) program, a certificate in real-world problem-solving for undergraduates in STEM and business majors.

The study's findings were published in the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. The May 2024 paper, "Improving the Perceived Utility Value of Teamwork and Collaboration among STEM Undergraduates," was written by Wells and his team—education graduate students Ling Chen and Betty Annan; and Ezekiel Kimball, former associate dean of academic affairs at UMass Amherst and current professor and interim dean at the University of Maine at Orono.

Chemistry faculty members Scott Auerbach, iCons executive director, and Justin Fermann, former iCons associate director for academics, also assisted researchers with the study and paper.

The study is the culmination of a three-year research project examining the overall experiences and development of students in the iCons program.

"There's a lot of research that says STEM employers are not thrilled with the way students come to them with teamwork and collaboration skills. Yes, they want experts in STEM fields, but they also want people who have strong soft skills—people who are team players, are good communicators and are capable of being collaborative with different viewpoints," Wells said.

"Those who designed iCons were thinking, 'How can we better prepare our students for that kind of professional environment?' And this study dug into the question of whether their design was effectively doing that."

Through quantitative and qualitative analyses, or mixed method approach, researchers examined approximately 400 surveys, class observations, data and interviews from 80 enrolled students from fall semester 2019 to spring 2022 and iCons alumni/graduates.

Researchers also incorporated a comparison group that comprised iCons applicants and Commonwealth Honors College students in STEM-related fields who did not participate in the program.

Findings showed that iCons students developed more positive values related to teamwork and collaboration than comparable STEM students who did not participate in the program. Furthermore, its team-based learning design together with an interdisciplinary design led to greater understanding and value of collaborative efforts versus individual effort towards accomplishing big goals.

One example of this is provided in feedback from a study participant, "I've never worked in interdisciplinary teams outside of iCons or before iCons. So, I realized that in a lot of cases, that multidisciplinary teams are way more functioning, or highly functioning, than non-interdisciplinary teams where you have a bunch of people of one particular expertise coming together."

"People in charge of iCons may feel more confident knowing that what they've designed is doing what they hoped, and I think they can amplify and leverage that to a greater degree within the program itself," Wells said.

Wells added that the study could also be a resource for instructors looking to improve STEM teaching and learning in the design of their programs and better outcomes overall for STEM education.

"Teamwork makes sense when the problem demands it, and when the composition of the team supports it," Auerbach said. "The essence of iCons is real-world problems tackled with diverse teams. When you have real-world problems tackled with diverse teams, the research shows students flock to teamwork."

More information: Ryan S. Wells et al, Improving the Perceived Utility Value of Teamwork and Collaboration among STEM Undergraduates, International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education (2024). DOI: 10.1007/s10763-024-10471-5

Provided by University of Massachusetts Amherst