Self-managed teaming and team effectiveness in interdisciplinary capstone design

The purpose of this paper is to present results from an interdisciplinary design course that utilized an inquiry-based approach to guide students in producing “smart” safety equipment for firefighters. This study explores the benefits and challenges of promoting interdisciplinarity through self-managed teaming. The participants included 12 students in an interdisciplinary capstone design course, with 4 each from electrical and computer engineering, industrial design, and marketing. The course was designed so that students self-managed their teams in an inquiry-based learning mode with the objective of designing safety equipment for firefighters that utilizes “smart” technology. The researchers observed and video-recorded each class and administered the Team Diagnostic Survey and concept map activities. Results indicated that students benefited from the self-managed teaming and also encountered various challenges in this project-based course, but they were able to succeed in both product design and crossing disciplinary boundaries. Recommendations for interdisciplinary teaming pedagogy are discussed.