An investigation of the team knowledge and team performance of the Chinese engineering students in a senior technical module

Teamwork is a very important attribute for future engineers. China graduates a large number of engineering graduates every year, so it is necessary to investigate the teamwork knowledge and performance level of the Chinese engineering students, and work out a better mechanism of teamwork teaching for them. This work investigates the team knowledge and team performance of the Chinese engineering students in a Year 3 senior technical module - Software Engineering, in which teamwork skills are one of the course objectives. The test results demonstrated that the declarative knowledge of the Year 3 students on team working increased through the years of learning but it was not successfully transferred into action, the skill based outcome. It was found that the participation rate for teamwork training in the technical module was low, and students focused more on the technical production. It was suggested to include the peer rating of team citizenship with a certain percentage (5-10%) in the final coursework mark, and also a certain percentage for individual contribution (5-10%). This will switch the product oriented to both teamwork and product oriented, and the individual contribution assessment will prevent social loafing and hitchhiking.