INFLUENCE OF TEAM FORMATION ON TEAM MEMBER PERCEPTION OF SATISFACTION AND PARTICIPATION

Background: Purdue Polytechnic’s Tech12000, Design Thinking in Technology, course incorporates many instances of team work. Over the last 8 years, there have been varied methods of how to create the teams for the projects.

Purpose: This study compares two methods of team formation, software generated and instructor/student-selected, to determine which, if any, method generates increased perception of team member satisfaction and increased team member contribution.

Methodology: The subjects for this study were students enrolled in a design course at a Purdue Polytechnic, divided into a comparison group with instructor/student-selected teams, and a treatment group with software-generated teams. These students were predominately first year students enrolled in their first semester of college.

Findings/conclusions: The researcher discovered that the computer software-generated teams produced teams that had slightly larger mean scores on satisfaction and contribution versus the instructor/student-selected teams, although not at a statistically significant level.

Implications: The findings of this study provide another tool for educators, with possible implications for industry, to generate teams in the classroom.