Virtual team development in a college course setting

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to determine how an instructor can facilitate collaboration among students during a virtual team project conducted within the framework of a traditional college course. Much of the current research on virtual teams has been conducted in business environments or controlled laboratory settings. Little is known about designing authentic collaborative team projects within an educational setting. Marvin Weisbord’s Six-Box Diagnostic Model (1976) was used as a framework for this interpretive qualitative study. Questionnaires were administered to college students who participated in a ten-week collaborative virtual team project. Open-ended questions were designed to elicit feedback in three specific areas of the project: the instructor’s role, project training, and the structure of the project. Unlike the findings in many current research studies, the majority of students in this study did not feel a need to meet virtual team members face-to-face. Research findings showed students instead focused on finding online ways of developing relationships, and requesting a longer project time frame to allow for virtual team building.