Training Undergraduates to Work in Organizational Teams

TLDR

Organizations increasingly seek candidates with teamwork KSAs, yet higher‑education curricula largely fail to explicitly develop these skills. The study describes a university course designed to cultivate teamwork knowledge and skills and discusses its implications for school‑to‑work policies and future research. The authors implemented a university‑level curriculum that trains students in teamwork knowledge and skills. The quasi‑experimental evaluation shows that the course significantly raised students' teamwork knowledge and skills but did not significantly affect teamwork attitudes or self‑efficacy.

Abstract

Organizations are increasingly seeking candidates possessing high levels of teamwork knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs; Stevens & Campion, 1994). Yet, despite a greater emphasis in higher education settings on developing a ready workforce (e.g., O'Neil, Allerd, & Baker, 1997), not enough is done to explicitly develop teamwork KSAs in university curricula. We describe a university course intended to develop students' teamwork KSAs. Results from a quasi-experimental evaluation study demonstrate that the course significantly increased the levels of students' teamwork knowledge and skills. However, the course did not significantly improve teamwork-related attitudes and self-efficacy. We discuss implications for school-to-work policies and the development of teamwork KSAs in higher education settings, as well as directions for future research.