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VOLUME XII, NUMBER 7

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS

PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN |

WITH SUPPORT FROM THE W. K. KELLOGG FOUNDATION AND THE SID W. RICHARDSON FOUNDATION

Why Not Team-Testing?

The current wave of management theory in business
is built around the team concept. Not just any old
teamwork concept, not just participative management,
not just quality circles, but teamwork in the very broad-
est sense—much like the Japanese view of total team
orientation.

Contrary to popular belief, the Japanese approach to
teamwork is not a cultural or inherent one. It is not, as
many people think, an original notion of the Japanese.

It is an adaptation of an American idea—that’s right,
American. The man who gets the credit in Japan is Dr.
W. Edwards Deming. It was he who, just after World
War II, got the Japanese system started down the road
to the standard they now enjoy.

The Deming process employs quality as the driving
force behind everything in business/industry. The idea
of quality permeates the team effort; the team effort
includes all persons associated with the business—i.e.,
management, engineering, production, support staff,
vendors, and customers.

One of the most obvious examples of the results of
this type of teamwork in American industry today is the
Motorola Company, a manufacturer of electronic
products and components. Everyone who can be
involved to any degree in the production of their
products is involved. The result, according to Motorola,
is that by 1992 they will have only 3.4 defects per
1,000,000 products or customer services—in other
words, insignificant defects. They are serious about
quality—quality in the Deming sense of the word.

What does this have to do with education? The
purpose of testing has long been to measure results of
student learning. Testing also serves as additional time-
on-task and is, therefore, a learning tool. In this regard,
it is not unlike other learning tools such as visual aids,
class discussions, or outside reading assignments. The
testing method discussed here helps to reduce test
anxicty, stimulates cooperation and teamwork, and
increases students’ sense of responsibility.

At our college, in the business management program,
we have started to integrate the teamwork concept. The
process is creating dramatic results.

 

It all started about two years ago with an idea from
our curriculum development specialist. In a coffee
break conversation one day, the inspiration tumbled out
of his mouth in the form of questions—e.g., “This
Deming approach may have some implications for us.
How could we install it? What could we do to get the
students to work in more of a teamwork setting?” Then
it hit us. Why not let the students work in teams while
taking tests? Simple!

Whoa! Radical idea! What would other instructors
say? What would the students say? How would we set
it up? What sort of results would we expect? Is it
worth trying? Too radical? Who knows?

What followed in the ensuing semesters is having a
definite effect. It works! Not only that, it works ina
way that the students take to like “ducks to water.” It’s
a motivator. It’s a go-getter. It’s whatever you want to
call an idea that increases understanding, improves
retention, and raises test scores.

The process is simple—so simple that it’s been over-
looked these many years. It goes like this:

At the beginning of cach semester, the students are
encouraged to form study teams—not a new idea.
About a weck before a major examination, the student
study-teams are given study questions to review—not a
new idea. Then, on test day, the students are allowed to
take the examination in teams—NEW IDEA (at least at
our college)!

The most noticeable aspect of the process at this
point is what happens when we (the instructors) walk
into the classroom on test day. There is a dull roar
coming down the hallway. We enter the room to find
the chairs rearranged into small circles, study questions
are being “cussed” and discussed, negotiations between
members of teams are taking place, teams are negotiat-
ing with other teams, highlighted book citations and
notes are rampant, and electric excitement fills the air.
They can’t wait to get at it—like hungry lions about to
be fed. (We’ve considered just throwing the test into
the room and then running away.)

On the serious side, having been a teacher for almost
three decades, it is fascinating to see the students in this
state of mind when they are about to “get it socked to
‘em’ with a major examination.

Then we hand out the test. Each student gets a copy,

 

vem, THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STAFF AND ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (NISOD)

Woy |
ones EDB 348, Austin, Texas 78712

Community College Leadership Program, The University of Texas at Austin

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