INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / APRIL 3, 1990

but only one from each group will be turned in for
grading. That one copy must have on it the names of
all persons on the team. The same score will be given
to all members. [It should be pointed out that students
may choose to take the examination alone. This, in
fact, has happened, but for differing reasons. In one
case, the student felt as though he hadn’t prepared well
enough and did not want to let the other members of
the team down. In another case, the team did not have
time to get together prior to test time and did not feel
that it would be fair to team-test. Morals? Scruples?
You bet!]

The results? No cheating—not even an attempt.
Why would you cheat when all you have to do is ask
another member of the team what he or she thinks?
Leadership comes forth. The democratic process sets
in. Arbitration and decision-making run amuck.
Consensus abounds. Problem solving is seen in its best
light. The team members assume more responsibility
for the material and are willing to “instruct” other
members: in other words, teamwork.

We have not discovered any type of test item that
cannot be used ona team test. Average time spent on
testing increases—students spend more time and
make fewer careless errors.

When tests are returned and results are known,
students are not willing to accept at face value the
incorrect answers. They have reasons (sometimes very
good reasons) for answering questions in a certain
manner. They want to explain their reasoning, and
they want to understand why these reasons are incor-
rect. They take ownership of the material and become
involved with it to the end. This allows re-teaching to
take place when the students are the most receptive to
it.

We have found that the process spills over to other
coursework in our department and to other depart-
ments, as well. For example, this semester there is a
group that meets every Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. They have breakfast
together and review for a variety of classes, depending
upon the group’s needs for the day. The courses for
which they prepare together include subjects outside
business management where team-testing is not used.
They have discovered the benefit of teamwork.

But the best result is that student understanding and
comprehension improve; on the average, the test
results increase from 20 to 22 percent! The best side
effects are that the students find out for themselves that
teamwork pays off, that every member of the team
must contribute to the effort, that the chances of

beating the odds go up, that camaraderie has a definite
place in the educational system, and that studying isn’t
so bad when you have someone to suffer with.

What's next? We don’t know for sure, but we’re
toying with the idea of team-projects—i.e., research
papers, case studies, etc. We're also looking at a team-
oriented approach to redesigning the structure of entire
classes, maybe even the Business Management pro-
gram. Who knows? We may be onto something big
here. But, all in all, we feel relatively sure that our
business community will look at us from a different
perspective once the word gets out.

Julia Briggs, Instructor, Business Management Program
Thomas O. Harris, Instructor, Business Management
Program

For further information, contact the authors at Depart-
ment of Business Technology, St. Philip’s College, 2111
Nevada, San Antonio, TX 78203.

Celebrate!

NISOD invites you to its twelfth annual Interna-
tlonal Conference on Teaching Excellence and
Conference of Administrators, to be held in
Austin on May 20-23, 1990.

Major keynote speakers have been selected for
the broad range of experiences that they will bring
to our participants. They include:

 

@ K. Patricia Cross, Professor, University of
California at Berkeley, California

@ Ronald J. Horvath, President, Jefferson Com-
munity College, Kentucky

@ Robert H. McCabe, President, Miami-Dade
Community College, Florida

Special events at the conference will include:
Mexican Buffet and Dancing to Texas Fever/
Monday, May 21

@ San Antonio Trip/ Tuesday, May 22

SEE YOU THERE!

 

 

Suanne D, Roueche, Editor

March 2, 1990, Vol. XII, No. 7

©The University of Texas at Austin, 1990
Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER
institutions for their own personnel.

 

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD),

EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Subscnptions are available to nonconsor-
tium members for $40 per year. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Sid W. Richardson Foundation.
Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring terms and once during the summer. ISSN 0199-106X.