The coupling of performance and assessment in multidisciplinary teamwork

Summary form only given. Assessment data are being collected for a senior multidisciplinary design class. The collected data include self-evaluations, peer evaluations, observations by the faculty team, project reports and a team evaluation matrix designed to emphasize important linkages in multidisciplinary team problem-solving. Selected team meetings and presentations were also videotaped as a part of the assessment plan. The analysis at this point has focused on the trends in multidisciplinary team skills development over time and differences in team skills organized by discipline and gender measured from the perception of the individual team members. Self-evaluation versus peer evaluation trends were also analyzed. The team skills, as defined in this research, focus on person-to-person interactions. The identified team skills include feedback, cooperation, team orientation, coordination, leadership and backup behavior. There were three major projects during the semester. Team skills were measured at the end of each project. Team membership, as much as possible, changed for each project and each team included three disciplines.