About
The goal of this project is to improve how teamwork is taught, practiced and assessed across a whole degree program. The project, initiating in the department of Infrastructure Engineering, has resulted in the development of a rich definition of effective teamwork behaviours, attainment of which has then been mapped across the different degree levels for the IE programs. This mapping forms the foundation for the Teaching, Practising and Assessing Teamwork (TPAT) framework.
Current work on the project is focused on adding exemplar activities for teaching, practicing and assessing teamwork with an aim to develop a repository of case studies that an academic could use to design new teamwork activities and assessments.
Teaching Practicing and Assessing Teamwork Framework
1. Adaptability | 2. Collectivism | 3. Communication | 4. Coordination | 5. Empathy | 6. Feedback | 7. Leadership | |
| A | Acquires new skills when needed to improve team performance | Develops relational knowledge of team roles in context of operating environment | Communicates using appropriate terminology for your discipline and group composition | Identifies and schedules team tasks appropriately | Actively acknowledges the contributions of others work | Critically reflects on feedback provided to you | Alerts teammates and makes suggestions when problems arise |
| B | Adjusts problem solving strategies when needed to suit the group dynamics | Helps teammates who are having difficulty | Communicates with respect and professionalism | Maintains up to date team records (eg calendar, project logs, task tracking, etc) | Establishes a positive atmosphere | Provides constructive feedback to team members | Directs and coordinates the activities of team mates |
| C | Effectively deals with disruptions to team cohesion | Makes important contributions that improve the teams work | Makes sure teammates stay informed and understand each other | Makes effort to attend all meetings on time, and/or promptly communicates when this is not possible | Is aware of and takes into consideration individual's circumstance/background /position/feelings | Seeks out feedback from teammates | Fosters a collaborative and respectful culture within the team |
| D | Fills gaps in team skills as needed | Participates fully in team activities | Practices active listening and closed loop communication | Monitors team progress and communicates delays promptly | Recognises the value of and seek out diverse viewpoints | Takes longer term steps to improve based on feedback | Monitors conditions effecting the team and tracks team progress |
| E | Maintains current knowledge of team's goals and work | Practices with mutual trust in each team member to fulfill their role and do excellent work | Uses diverse means of (synchronous and asynchronous) communication as appropriate for the team | Takes into consideration other's time and availability | Motivates teammates | ||
| F | Prioritises team goals | Promotes the use of and defines processes of work | |||||
| G | Uses information available and sound judgement to make decisions |
Example TPAT framework mapping
(Rios, S. A., Male, S. A., 2025)
Further Information
Key resources:
Rios, S. A., Winter, S., Chan, H. Y., Lam, L., & Male, S. (2024, December). Teaching, practicing and assessing teamwork: A programmatic mapping of teamwork skills and behaviours. In Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2024) (pp. 1169-1177). Christchurch, New Zealand: Engineers Australia. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/informit.T2025032400012000906640967
Rios, Shannon; Male, Sally (2025). Teaching Practice and Assessing Teamwork Framework - Behaviour mapping across engineering degree programme. The University of Melbourne. Dataset. https://doi.org/10.26188/30001891.v1