Assessing Team Conflict in Student Design Teams

Abstract

Our work is investigating the role of team conflict in the context of student design project work. We are interested in the types of conflicts that occur during the team’s development of their design solution, and how these conflicts may in fact contribute in a positive way to the overall design solution. We are using a mixed-method approach to data collection through student interviews, team observations, reflective memos, and surveys. This paper reports results from a study implemented in a required first-year engineering design course. Results from this study indicate that teams experience a range of conflicts, where some students perceive these conflicts as beneficial to team performance. In addition, our results describe several strategies teams use to manage and leverage these conflicts. Finally, methodologically we found that the team memos and team conflict surveys were better instruments for capturing team conflict, more so than self-report surveys.