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1. Perceived Scrum Values, Conflict Resolution Ability, and Cultural Self-Awareness among System Design and Analysis Students.

   Jaiswal, A.; Patel, K.; Patel, D.; & Magana, A.J. (January 2022, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   Teamwork has been identified as one of the essential professional skills for the 21st century. Business, industries, and corporates require their employees to work in teams on various projects. Therefore, it is crucial to introduce and train undergraduate students on teamwork skills. Working in teams is not easy as one needs to collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds, skillsets, and opinions. The disagreement among the team members may lead to conflict and chaos that jeopardizes the team's harmony. Therefore, just creating teams and assigning a group project is insufficient to help undergraduate students develop teamwork skills. Instructors need to help students become cognizant of their teamwork skills, such as conflict resolution, scrum values, and cultural self-awareness. In this research paper, we intend to understand the perception of students enrolled in a sophomore-level system's course regarding conflict resolution skills, scrum values, and cultural self-awareness. We also want to understand how the perception of these values is related to one another. In the light of this study, we want to answer the following research questions (1) How do students' reported conflict management skills relate to their reported scrum values? (2) How do students' cultural self-awareness relate to their conflict management skills? (3) How do students' cultural self-awareness relate to their reported scrum values? A course on system analysis and design followed a project-based cooperative learning approach. The students were required to work in teams and complete the course deliverables, including the final course project. The team projects followed a scrum approach that helped students identify the project requirements, perform modeling and develop a prototype. Since students worked on scrum- driven projects in a cooperative learning environment, the students were required to participate in a survey study that allowed the instructional team to develop an understanding of the students' perception of conflict management, scrum values, and cultural self-awareness. The responses of the students were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results suggest that students found themselves competent in managing conflict, adhering to scrum values, and demonstrating a high-level cultural self-awareness. 

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2. A Reflection on Action Approach to Teamwork Facilitation

   Jaiswal, A.; Patel, D.; Zhu, Y.; Lee, J.; & Magana, A.J. (January 2022, ASEE annual conference exposition proceedings)

   Working in teams has been recognized as an essential 21st-century skill. Introducing teamwork in the undergraduate classroom is crucial as it allows the students to work with individuals with diverse skillsets and learn from one another. It is important to note that just creating a team and allowing the students to work does not foster teamwork skills. Inculcating teamwork skills requires a consciousness on the part of the instructor and the teaching assistants. Pedagogies such as cooperative learning have been recognized as effective in helping students develop teamwork skills. We introduced a joint reflection on action approach to developing teamwork skills among novice students as part of a sophomore-level systems analysis and design course. In this evidence-based practice paper, we report on students’ reflections regarding their perceptions of teamwork. This study approaches the following research questions: What are students' reflections about the role of communication while working in teams in a cooperative project-based learning environment? The guiding pedagogical framework for this course is cooperative learning. The course requires the students to work in teams in a semester-long software development project. To elicit reflection on action about their teamwork experience. Specifically, we exposed students to concrete experiences as part of their teamwork interactions, which became the basis for observations and reflections. For this, the semester-long project was complemented with one reflection-on-action activity. In the activity, students were asked to watch a video of secrets of successful teamwork and were asked to reflect on their perceptions about the role of communication within teams. The students’ reflections on the activity were analyzed using qualitative inductive thematic analysis to understand the students’ perceptions regarding teamwork and communication within teams. 

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3. A Reflection on Action Approach to Teamwork Facilitation

   Jaiswal, A.; Patel, D.; Zhu, Y.; Lee, J.; Magana, A.J. (January 2022, Proceedings ASEE annual conference)

   Working in teams has been recognized as an essential 21st-century skill. Introducing teamwork in the undergraduate classroom is crucial as it allows the students to work with individuals with diverse skillsets and learn from one another. It is important to note that just creating a team and allowing the students to work does not foster teamwork skills. Inculcating teamwork skills requires a consciousness on the part of the instructor and the teaching assistants. Pedagogies such as cooperative learning have been recognized as effective in helping students develop teamwork skills. We introduced a joint reflection on action approach to developing teamwork skills among novice students as part of a sophomore-level systems analysis and design course. In this evidence-based practice paper, we report on students’ reflections regarding their perceptions of teamwork. This study approaches the following research questions: What are students' reflections about the role of communication while working in teams in a cooperative project-based learning environment? The guiding pedagogical framework for this course is cooperative learning. The course requires the students to work in teams in a semester-long software development project. To elicit reflection on action about their teamwork experience. Specifically, we exposed students to concrete experiences as part of their teamwork interactions, which became the basis for observations and reflections. For this, the semester-long project was complemented with one reflection-on-action activity. In the activity, students were asked to watch a video of secrets of successful teamwork and were asked to reflect on their perceptions about the role of communication within teams. The students’ reflections on the activity were analyzed using qualitative inductive thematic analysis to understand the students’ perceptions regarding teamwork and communication within teams. 

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4. Characterizing Team Orientations and Academic Performance in Cooperative Project-Based Learning Environments

   https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11090520  

   Jaiswal, Aparajita; Karabiyik, Tugba; Thomas, Paul; Magana, Alejandra J. (September 2021, Education Sciences)

   Information technology professionals are required to possess both technical and professional skills while functioning in teams. Higher education institutions are promoting teamwork by engaging students in cooperative and project-based learning environments. We characterized teams based on their collective orientations and evaluated their team performance in a cooperative project-based learning environment situated in a sophomore-level systems analysis and design course. We explored the orientation patterns in terms of goals, roles, processes, and interpersonal relations (GRPI). Specifically, we analyzed team retrospectives of 23 teams using a mixed-method approach. Findings characterized teams into balanced and unbalanced orientations. Teams with balanced orientations demonstrated a higher level of team performance in terms of academic achievement than the unbalanced category. 

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5. Transformative Pedagogy as a Reflective Approach for Promoting Intercultural Self-Awareness in the Context of Teamwork

   https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343079  

   Hensista, Irene; Guddeti, Shreya; Patel, Devang A; Aggrawal, Sakhi; Nanda, Gaurav; Magana, Alejandra J (October 2023, IEEE)

   This study implemented transformative pedagogy as a reflective approach to promote intercultural self-awareness and its potential consequences in the context of teamwork. The context was a second-year systems analysis and design course with 118 students in the fall 2021 semester and 155 students in the spring 2022 semester. The research question was: What are students' beliefs regarding their own cultural values and the potential implications of those values on their teamwork interactions? Findings from the study indicate that students realized that team dynamics and values are crucial to team experience. We found that students believed that commitment to the team and communication of values contributed to the experience of teamwork and teamwork success. Students also believed that coming together and making decisions together in a collectivistic manner would help the progress of the team. 

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