scholarly journals Ground Rules in Team Projects: Findings from a Prototype System to Support Students

10.28945/165 ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 161-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Whatley
Author(s):  
Judith Stevenson

Once employed, our graduates will be judged on their ability to be effective team players. In some professions, people’s safety and even survival may depend on good teamwork. Yet teamwork assignments in university courses are not generally a popular option. Team projects are often viewed as a difficult and frustrating requirement, by students and faculty alike. Few instructors receive any formal training on how to create effective team assignments or on ways to educate their students about strategies for success in their team activities. In this session, we discuss ways to educate students about the value of team experiences in their courses, so that they are motivated to improve their teamwork skills. We examine the dynamics of both face-to-face and virtual teamwork, in workplace environments and in a college setting, so as to understand the underlying reasons for the challenges inherent in team activities. Then finally we explore some techniques that instructors can use to design and deliver team assignments that support a positive student experience.  


10.28945/2640 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice E. Whatley

In this paper an application of software agents is described, aimed at supporting students working on team projects in the online situation. Online teamwork is problematical for a number of reasons, such as getting acquainted with team members, communications between members and knowing what progress has been made on the project. Software agents have the ability to monitor progress and offer advice by operating in the background to act autonomously when the need arises. An agent prototype has been developed to perform a limited set of functions to support students, and the results of a trial carried out using teams working on projects are discussed.


10.28945/3300 ◽  
2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Whatley

Student team project work in higher education is one of the best ways to develop team working skills at the same time as learning about the subject matter. As today’s students require the freedom to learn at times and places that better match their lifestyles, there is a need for any support for team project work to be also available online. Team working requires that the task roles as well as the maintenance roles are taken into consideration, in that social interactions are just as important as carrying out the tasks of the project. The literature indicates that groupware, whilst effective in supporting the task roles, provides limited support for the maintenance roles of team working in the work place. As groupware was not specifically designed for student team working, it provides limited support for maintenance roles in student team projects. Virtual learning environments similarly provide support for completing the task roles. Many researchers have found that students experience difficulties with their team project work that reduce the perceived benefits of working in a team. It is proposed that helping students to agree on ground rules at the start of a project will improve team cohesion. This paper describes the implementation and evaluation of a prototype system to help students to agree on ground rules as they start their team projects. The system was tested with teams of students carrying out information systems team projects, using an interpretive case study research approach. In this case the teams had the additional problem of being composed of students from across three years of their undergraduate degree programmes, so they did not always have prior knowledge of each other’s preferences. We were trying to establish how useful this software tool would be to these student teams, in starting their project work. The findings showed that some of the student teams did find the ground rules function useful, but the team leaders were the ones who most appreciated its potential. The students may use the outputs in very different ways, but even just looking at the ground rules appeared to get team members thinking about their expectations for team working. Student teams do not often start by thinking about norms, but this study shows a positive benefit of encouraging teams to agree on ground rules at the start of their projects.


2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 82-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carole Zangari

Abstract To be successful, students who use AAC and attend general education classes require extensive supports and frequent practice with their communication systems. In this article, I explore the challenges faced by educational teams and discuss strategies for helping general education teachers, paraprofessionals, and others provide the AAC learning and practice opportunities these students need to maximize their communication skills and academic achievement.


2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (16) ◽  
pp. 15-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henriette W. Langdon ◽  
Terry Irvine Saenz

The number of English Language Learners (ELL) is increasing in all regions of the United States. Although the majority (71%) speak Spanish as their first language, the other 29% may speak one of as many as 100 or more different languages. In spite of an increasing number of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who can provide bilingual services, the likelihood of a match between a given student's primary language and an SLP's is rather minimal. The second best option is to work with a trained language interpreter in the student's language. However, very frequently, this interpreter may be bilingual but not trained to do the job.


1982 ◽  
Vol 21 (03) ◽  
pp. 127-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. W. Wallis ◽  
E. H. Shortliffe

This paper reports on experiments designed to identify and implement mechanisms for enhancing the explanation capabilities of reasoning programs for medical consultation. The goals of an explanation system are discussed, as is the additional knowledge needed to meet these goals in a medical domain. We have focussed on the generation of explanations that are appropriate for different types of system users. This task requires a knowledge of what is complex and what is important; it is further strengthened by a classification of the associations or causal mechanisms inherent in the inference rules. A causal representation can also be used to aid in refining a comprehensive knowledge base so that the reasoning and explanations are more adequate. We describe a prototype system which reasons from causal inference rules and generates explanations that are appropriate for the user.


Author(s):  
Dentik Karyaningsih ◽  
Puji Siswanto

Lecture courses in the English Language Education Study Program of STKIP Setiabudhi Rangkasbitung are still conducted in face-to-face class, so the students who do not attend lectures cannot know the pronunciation material at that time, because the Pronunciation course is a practical course in the English pronunciation system. The E-Learning Pronunciation is built so that lectures can be carried out anywhere and anytime without reducing the quality of the teaching and learning process. Therefore, the students who are left behind can continue to follow the Pronunciation course material, as well as habituating students in utilizing communication and information technology. E-Learning Pronunciation is important to be built to improve the ability of students’ pronunciation when doing distance learning, so that students are clearer and more firm in understanding Pronunciation so that there are no errors in English pronunciation. Participants in this study were first semester students of English education study programs. This study uses an experimental research design with the Prototype System development method and system of testing uses Black box testing.


2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Mészáros ◽  
David B. Funk

The Unified Grain Moisture Algorithm is capable of improved accuracy and allows the combination of many grain types into a single “unified calibration”. The purposes of this research were to establish processes for determining unifying parameters from the chemical and physical properties of grains. The data used in this research were obtained as part of the United States Department of Agriculture-Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration's Annual Moisture Calibration Study. More than 5,000 grain samples were tested with a Hewlett-Packard 4291A Material/Impedance Analyzer. Temperature tests were done with a Very High Frequency prototype system at Corvinus University of Budapest. Typical chemical and physical parameters for each of the major grain types were obtained from the literature. Data were analyzed by multivariate chemometric methods. One of the most important unifying parameters (Slope) and the temperature correction coefficient were successfully modeled. The Offset and Translation unifying parameters were not modeled successfully, but these parameters can be estimated relatively easily through limited grain tests.


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