Improving Student Attitudes toward Online Collaboration

Student responses on end-of-course surveys in social work courses communicated frustration with online teamwork assignments. Recognition of the value of effective collaboration suggested the need for teamwork supports. This session will describe supports implemented and preliminary results of an "Attitude toward Teamwork" pre-/post-survey administered during Spring 2011, with a focus on future methods of gathering evidence of impact. Teamwork supports include a pre-program, online module on collaboration benefits, a teamwork-tips website describing collaborative technologies, socialization in the form of an online discussion of past teamwork experiences, a team charter assignment, peer evaluation rubrics, and faculty-team meetings in Connect.

Learning Objectives:
*Recognize challenges specific to online teamwork assignments
*Describe instructional strategies for supporting online teamwork assignments
*Contribute and comment on techniques for gathering evidence that the teamwork interventions described add value to and ease student frustration with online teamwork assignments