Collaborative Team Project

This is a collaborative research project in which your team will explore a topic from a variety of perspectives.  To do this you will:

• ·         share background knowledge,
• ·         analyze the topic from multiple perspectives, and
• ·         find new information on the subject  matter.

The goals of this collaborative team project are five.  You will:

• ·         work together in face-2-face and virtual environments which you are likely to encounter in future work or study;
• ·         learn teamwork skills;
• ·         improve communication and facilitation skills;
• ·         experience student-led teaching and learning; and
• ·         create a professional team presentation.

The final outcome of this team project is a capstone event in which each team will determine the appropriate media to present what they have learned and engage their classmates in a discussion.

The medium for collaborating, exploring topics, and creating your capstone projects is our wiki.  However, when giving the final presentation, you may use other media (PowerPoint, Prezi, Glogster, your own Wiki, video, and more).

Project Schedule:

Session 1--01/30/2013:  Brainstorm topic in teams and then come up with individual slants on a particular team topic.

Session 2--02/06/2013:  Finding our topic and team.

Session 3--02/13/2013:  Team rules:  Clarify project goals and set rules for functioning as a team,

Session 4--02/20/2013:  Find and post a link to a video/audio related to your team topic.

Listen to and comment on 1 other person’s link,

Session 5--02/27/2013:  Continue to listen to and comment on 1 other person’s link

Session 6--03/06/2013:  Individual research writing on your perspective and take on the topic (opinion, reaction, or analysis) due

Session 7--03/20/2013: Plan for presentation

Session 8--03/27/2013:  Team writing:  Outline for presentation

Session 9 & 10:  Cross team—media presentation—choose your own media.

Final presentation schedule:  4/3/2013 & 4/10/2013

Capstone project guidelines:

• ·         Half an hour presentation including a discussion session and Q & A.

Characteristics of Effective Teams

In order for a team to accomplish their work, all of the members have to buy into or commit to doing the work and following some agreed upon rules in order to reach the team's goals.  Here is a brief article from Stanford University about what the characteristics of an effective team are.  Take a look at this and be sure all of your team members are on the same page.  Click on the title above to read the article.

Your task today:  Write your team rules/code of conduct

Before even beginning to look at what the work is, most work or study teams create a list of 6 or 8 rules or standards of behavior that everyone on the team needs to agree to.  During this session your team should brainstorm and write up those rules.  Then, one person from each team will post the rules to their respective page.