Needs Assessment

Because student resistance to team activities was reported verbally and without specificity, I
created a questionnaire containing both Likert scale and unforced-response items in an effort to
assess student perception of working with a team. The questionnaire was completed by 58
students on January 27, 2016 and further indicated a need for social skills instruction.
Reoccurring student responses made the following themes apparent during analysis of unforcedresponse items. Students stated:

64 times that they understood concepts more clearly after working with a team.

Responses indicated that shared opinions are valuable 52 additional times.

Themes From Open-ended Responses

Self-Evaluation: Student Findings as a Team

Member
MORE FUN WORING WITH A TEAM THAN ALONE

HELPED ME LEARN HOW TO WORK WITH A TEAM

15

WORK IS COMPLETED MORE QUICKLY

SHARED IDEAS AND OPINIONS ARE VALUABLE

52

INCREASED UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPT(S)

64
0

10

20

30

40

Number of Responses Per Theme

*10 responses indicated that team success is dependent upon team make-up

50

60

70

Despite positive statements in reference to the way in which students learn in a team
setting, students stated in 38 responses that team-members may not listen, could distract
others and avoid work assigned to them as a teammate.

Themes From Open-ended Responses

Self-Evaluation: Student Findings as a Team

Member Prefering to Work Alone
TEAM MAY DRAG MY GRADE DOWN

I MIGHT LET TEAM DOWN

MY IDEAS ARE BETTER THAN THOSE OF TEAM

12

TEAM MEMBERS CALL NAMES/TEASE

TEAM DOES NOT LISTEN/OFF-TASK/DISTRACTING

38

SIMPLY STATED "I WOULD RATHER WORK ALONE"

11
0

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Number of Responses Per Theme

The themes as they emerged above coupled with Likert scale responses indicate a need for
instruction in how to be a team-member.
Likert scale question numbers 2, 3 and 5 ask students specific questions regarding their
perception of teamwork. Student responses to these questions are reflected in the graph below.

Question 2: Teamwork helps me to understand my assignments better.

Question 3: When I share an idea, I feel like my team really listens and appreciates my
idea.

Question 5: I am satisfied with the way our team works together to solve problems.

Likert scale question numbers 1, 4, 6 and 7 ask students specific questions regarding their
perception of working alone or independent work versus teamwork. Student responses to these
questions are reflected in the graph below.

Question 1: I mostly like completing activities quietly by myself.

Question 4: One or two people do all of the work on our team.

Question 6: I currently do not enjoy teamwork.

Question 7: My work that I do alone is better than the work that I do with my team.

The final and 8th question of the Likert-style questionnaire probed student desire for their
Teacher to implement instruction on the subject of working as a team. Student responses are
again reflected in the following graph.

Strongly Agree (5) Agree (4) Neither (3) Disagree (2) Strongly Disagree (1)

Question 8: I would like for my teacher to teach lessons on how to be a better team
member.

Based upon results of this recent needs assessment, I believe that teaching social skills to
support students success with their team is an important step in the reduction of group-project
resistance. For all of these reasons indicated in the needs assessment, I have chosen my RQ:
Research Question
How can I improve my instructional practices to boost students' group social skills?
Sub-Question: How will social skills instruction impact student perception of
working in groups during activity based projects?