Evaluating Teamwork Components in Large Undergraduate Software Engineering Teams

Teamwork is crucial in software engineering. However, recent literature concludes that software engineering graduates have underdeveloped teamwork skills. Instructors wishing to develop teamwork skills are faced with many teamwork models and a lack of empirical studies that examine their utility in higher education. We conducted an exploratory study to examine teamwork components of attitudinal, behavioral, and cognitive psychological facets (collectively called ABCs) in eight undergraduate software engineering teams composed of 14 to 17 members. We answered two research questions: Which teamwork components were the least developed at the beginning of the project, and Which teamwork components remained underdeveloped by the end of the project. For each team, we conducted two focus group discussions, and analyzed four sprint retrospective reports during the semester. We synthesize the gathered data to define each team by the presence of teamwork components, development of teamwork components, experienced challenges, average course grades, and project results. Teamwork components that were initially underdeveloped were Mutual performance monitoring, Shared cognitions, Leadership, Communication, Psychological safety and Trust. Two teamwork components that remained underdeveloped were Shared cognitions and Mutual performance monitoring. The answer to our first question highlights teamwork components that instructors should pay attention to in their teamwork-oriented courses. For the second question, we explain the mechanisms that we applied to develop teamwork components and highlight which components were the most challenging to develop, as well as in which period instructors should provide the most support to students. Engineering education researchers might benefit from our methodological design, measurement instruments, and raw data to conduct studies in their contexts.