Using E-Mediation to prepare students for the Real World .

1. Dr. Marc Conrad, University of Luton Marc.Conrad@luton.ac.uk These slides are available at: http://perisic.com/e-culture About an Assignment in IT-Project Management. Using E-Mediation to prepare students for theReal World. Cambridge Luton Oxford London Marc Conrad - University of Luton

2. Human Resources are a central issue in companies. Human Resources usually refers to people working together, for example you, me, or our students in their future job. Productivity, job satisfaction, or simply the quality of our life depends on how we get on with people that are not our friends! Can we teach that to our students? People and Projects Marc Conrad - University of Luton

3. 150 Students Distributed randomly in groups of 8-10 people (via discussion boards in the VLE). Given the task: Form a team! The Assignment Marc Conrad - University of Luton

4. Tasks: Each group has to organise at least two “social” events. Generate reports (reflection). Marking: Participation in the discussion group. Activity shown in organizing team building activities. Approaches to conflict management. Quality of contributions. Weekly summaries This is not a group assignment! From the Assignment… The assignment Marc Conrad - University of Luton

5. 13 questions, for example: This assignment, as you know, is about working relationships and not making friends. Anyway – did you make new friends in doing this assignment? What do you think was your most useful contribution to the group? If you had to start the assignment again – would you do it differently? Did you learn something from it? What was the biggest problem in your group and what did you do in helping to solve that problem? Was the problem solved? The final report Marc Conrad - University of Luton

6. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions: Power distance Individualism/Collectivism Femininity/Masculinity Uncertainty avoidance The student reports give evidence on their cultural profile. (see next slide for example) Cultural Underpinning Marc Conrad - University of Luton

7. Question 11: What do you think was your most useful contribution to the group? A focus on intellectual contributions, or responsive participation (“I attended all the meetings which took place every Wednesday”) may indicate that the individual is able to cope with a high amount of uncertainty while a high proactive behaviour showed that uncertainty should be avoided at all cost (“I undertook the responsibility and orchestrated the majority of the groups meetings”). See paper for more: Example: Uncertainty Avoidance Marc Conrad - University of Luton

8. 92% of the students explicitly acknowledge that they either did learn something or would do things differently. Answers vary in the details given: “Of course, the main thing I will do is how to organise the time, that because we had a problem in organising the time before” (time management) “I would probably put a little bit pressure on some members and wouldn’t be so trustful.” (social skills) “I have learnt from this assignment that good communication skills and enthusiasm has got to be at the heart of each of the team members, [...]” (team skills) The open structure of the assignment that gives the students a high level of freedom on how to solve their tasks evidently shows here its strength. Student Experience (based on data of report) Marc Conrad - University of Luton

9. Conclusion • E-Mediation (here: discussion boards) provides a powerful tool for teaching students fundamental team skills. • Students gain valuable experience via the transition from a virtual environment to a real team. • The reflection in the final report leads to an understanding of the student’s own behaviour in a team environment. Marc Conrad - University of Luton