Teams and Team Building at Baylor University: Why Should We Do This and Where Should It Occur in the Curriculum?

Experience with teams is a desirable outcome with employers. Academic programs often have student teams accomplish course, design, and lab projects starting with the freshmen introductory courses and culminating with capstone senior design. Where do students learn about teams in the curriculum? How do they learn to be good team members? It seems the most pervasive approach to teams in higher education is a “sink or swim” attitude where teams are allowed to form on their own and work out any issues that arise. Little, if any, formal instruction on being a team member is given throughout the curriculum. Even less instruction is given on team leadership. This paper will discuss the rationale for teams in the academic environment and the use of teams at Baylor University. Also, the paper will examine how students view teams and approach the accomplishment of team projects. This will be contrasted with the view of teams held by faculty. Some suggestions will be made to make the team experience more manageable for faculty.