1 INTRODUCTION
Teamwork is an essential employability skill expected of our graduates across a range of disciplines (García et al., 2016; Wilson et al., 2018). In addition to the requirement of team skills for the workplace, much research has demonstrated that students can learn more when working in effective teams (Wilson et al., 2018). Critical thinking, engagement, cohesion, respect for diversity, mental health and interpersonal skills have all been shown to improve via team learning experiences (Chu et al., 2019; García et al., 2016; Gillespie, 2012; Gleadow et al., 2015; Mercer-Mapstone & Kuchel, 2015; Wilson et al., 2018). The highest learning gains can be obtained when groups contain diversity, students are held accountable, assignments are designed to encourage working together, and teams receive frequent feedback (Allan, 2016; Gillespie, 2012; Rasmussen et al., 2011). While students also cite the benefit of learning team skills they often feel insufficiently trained in these skills by their degree (Wilson et al., 2018). It is therefore important for educators to consider appropriate support to facilitate the learning of these essential employability skills (García et al., 2016; Kuchel et al., 2014; Wilson et al., 2018).
The face of teamwork is also changing with technological advances. Not only do our graduates need to learn to work within teams bridging spatially separated locations and time-zones (Ayoko et al., 2012; Jimenez et al., 2017; Panteli et al., 2019), they also need to be adaptable to new technological interfaces. Recently collaboration spaces like Microsoft Teams, Google drive and Slack have integrated file sharing, co-editing, text chats and video/audio call options enabling the work environment to be almost entirely online (Jimenez et al., 2017). These virtual collaboration spaces are also widely applied within research environments. The authors regularly use Microsoft Teams (mostly for within-institution collaborations and teaching) and Google drive and Slack for inter-institution research collaborations bridging international boundaries. Despite this widespread application and importance including for the research environment, we rarely teach our undergraduate students to effectively implement these technologies (García et al., 2016).
Virtual work environments are incredibly flexible and resilient to changed circumstances (Jimenez et al., 2017; Panteli et al., 2019). For example they allow users to work synchronously on a document (such as via Microsoft 365 or Google drive programs) or through video calls and screen sharing regardless of where the users are located (Panteli et al., 2019). Similarly, they allow for easy asynchronous collaboration with updates from other users easily visible and host folder sharing within the platform. This flexibility in work ‘location’ using online collaboration spaces allows for more flexible work arrangements to accommodate those with caring responsibilities or health challenges (Jimenez et al., 2017; Panteli et al., 2019).
While allowing flexibility, virtual teams have been associated with reduced cohesiveness caused by differences in culture, language, and technological fluency (Panteli et al., 2019). The result of an entirely online work environment is that team members may never get to know each other which can create trust and anxiety issues (Panteli et al., 2019). These challenges emphasise the need to provide training opportunities within these environments for both interpersonal and technological skills development in our students to maximise their potential for future success in these virtual team environments.
The flexibility features mentioned above also make online collaboration spaces an effective way for students to interact with learning material when not in class. Students have increasing pressures on their time from part time work to caring duties and are increasingly choosing online lectures where possible for the increased flexibility that it affords (Gleadow et al., 2015). Learning environments with both face-to-face (synchronous) and online (synchronous or asynchronous) opportunities has been demonstrated to improve student engagement (Chen & Chiou, 2014; McFarlin, 2008; Singh, 2017). By incorporating both synchronous and asynchronous features students are able to access the material (including voice and video captures) at times that suit them and can ask questions using online forums. At Nottingham we have been using Moodle (virtual learning environment) and Echo360 lecture capture for asynchronous online learning. Lecture slides, reading materials and task instructions can be uploaded and the forum feature allows for students to ask questions where everyone can see the instructor’s response. More recently we have access to Microsoft Teams (Microsoft 365 software) collaboration space and here we show how this software can be used to provide a flexible, resilient learning environment, while also teaching the students important employability skills.
As mentioned above, students often feel insufficiently trained in team skills and often dislike teamwork. Problems tend to include arranging meetings outside class, unequal contributions “social loafing” and unfair grading (Rasmussen et al., 2011; Wilson et al., 2018). However appropriate scaffolding to support students and ensure accountability can improve the student perspectives of teamwork (Rasmussen et al., 2011). We previously developed a set of team training sessions to explicitly teach students what’s expected of them when working with others. These are based on, and programmed around the four stages of team function – forming, storming, norming and performing (Ayoko et al., 2012). This team training package was originally designed for first year undergraduate biology students (BIOl1030) at the University of Queensland (Kuchel et al., 2014; Rasmussen et al., 2011). Their team assignment was also semester-long with the end point a 5 minute documentary video on environmental issues in South East Queensland (Kuchel et al., 2014; Rasmussen et al., 2011). Within this context the team training sessions benefited the students with at least one third of the 600 students finding each session useful (Rasmussen et al., 2011).
The success of these four team training sessions demonstrates the value of providing structured support for these transferable, non-science skills. With this in mind, we adapted these sessions to fit a new semester-long team assessment (also a documentary video) within a 3rd year undergraduate course at the University of Nottingham, UK. Additionally the students were provided a training session on using Microsoft Teams for collaboration and sections were created within their Class Notebook (within Microsoft Teams) to guide them through the different tasks required to complete the assessment (including templates for team meetings, and spaces with other resources such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) rules and risk assessment forms). This multifaceted scaffolding was to enable students to access the information when it was most needed – both synchronously (either in class with the lecturer or their team-mates) and asynchronously.
Unexpectedly the spring 2020 semester suffered a major interruption to in-person teaching as a result of lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19. This meant the flexibility of the students, teacher and software was tested to extremes. Here we investigate the student perspective of teamwork within the context of a hybrid course (module) integrating synchronous and asynchronous, in-person and online collaborations across the COVID-19 lockdown.
Throughout this article, we will refer to courses as an individual subject unit (also called modules) and programmes as the 3‐ or 4‐year degree programme (called courses in some places) in which students enrol. Similarly, we will refer to Microsoft Teams in full and the student teams as groups to avoid confusion between teams and Microsoft Teams.