CO-VID-EO: resilient hybrid learning strategies to explicitly teach team
skills in undergraduate students.
Abstract
The modern workplace requires teamwork bridging distances, time-zones
and cultures using virtual collaboration platforms. As such teamwork is
a key employability skill for our graduates, and yet we rarely
explicitly teach team skills or how to navigate and collaborate in a
virtual environment. Here we demonstrate that integrating in-person
(synchronous) and online (synchronous and asynchronous) learning
environments can prove an extremely resilient teaching method that
allowed continuity during COVID-19 lockdown, while providing them with
these essential skills. Students were given a semester long documentary
video team assignment supported by regular compulsory team training
sessions and using the Microsoft Teams online collaboration platform. At
the end of semester, the 24 students in the class were sent a survey
with questions relating to their perspectives of teamwork in general,
the team training sessions and online platform and the impact of
COVID-19. Of the 12 respondents only 4 reported negative attitudes to
teamwork in general and learning and shared workload were the most
reported benefits. Implementing explicit (and compulsory) team training
sessions throughout semester were valued by the students for reasons
ranging from the explicit intention of each task (team establishment and
planning, negotiation, reflection of team behaviours, negotiating team
member contributions) to the more general appreciation that regular
compulsory sessions ensured the teams met frequently. It was
particularly positive that every student reported that this team
experience was better than their previous team experiences, and this in
spite of the COVID-19 lockdown. Included with this manuscript are all
the learning materials provided to the students and a few key lessons we
learnt along the way.