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Engineering Education Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Engineering Education

Patterns In Team Communication During A Simulation Game, David M. Baca, Ray Luechtefeld, Steve Eugene Watkins Jan 2006

Patterns In Team Communication During A Simulation Game, David M. Baca, Ray Luechtefeld, Steve Eugene Watkins

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The development of communication skills is a necessary preparation for effective engineering teamwork. Argyris' "Theory of Action" provides a framework for understanding patterns in team dialogue. Students can benefit from an awareness of these patterns. The theory highlights the detection and correction of errors by sharing information during group collaboration and interactions. Quality decision-making can be enhanced when members of a team develop high degrees of openness and interdependence. Quality decision-making can be diminished when members of a team regulate the information shared within the team. This work analyzes team interactions from simulation games used in an interdisciplinary engineering course …


Work In Progress - Automated Discourse Interventions And Student Teaming, Ray Luechtefeld, Steve Eugene Watkins, Ralph E. Flori Feb 2005

Work In Progress - Automated Discourse Interventions And Student Teaming, Ray Luechtefeld, Steve Eugene Watkins, Ralph E. Flori

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The ability to successfully work in teams is a crucial part of an engineer's workplace success. Engineering education can be improved through a better understanding of how effective teamwork develops. A (patent pending) software tool that "listens" to team conversations and generates automatic interventions into team discourse can effectively mimic the actions of a skilled facilitator. Automated facilitation tools may help students improve their team skills by providing a simplified model for conversational interventions, which students can readily imitate. This paper describes this tool and presents preliminary findings from student reactions to the tool's use.