Students’ Team Project Experiences and Their Attitudes Towards Teamwork
Students’ Team Project Experiences and Their Attitudes Towards Teamwork

Summary/Abstract: Purpose: The aim of the study is to evaluate the influence of team project experiences of students(presence and role of a leader; fairness in team projects; conditions supporting teamwork createdby a university) on their attitudes towards teamwork, especially the perception of teamwork effectiveness and the preference of working in teams. Methodology: In the study the quantitative research was done among master degree Polish studentsof Management (105 questionnaires). The measures used for the study were developed specifcallyfor the study referring to the previous research in the feld. Findings: Results indicate that leaders in team projects and conditions supporting teamwork areconnected with the students’ perception of teamwork effectiveness, while the fairness in teamprojects is connected with students’ preference of working collectively. Research implications: We conclude that in order to develop a positive attitude towards teamwork,the teamwork projects should be better supported by the instructors (especially supporting theemergence of leader(s) and minimising the problem of free riders) and the university should createa climate that facilitates teamworking, otherwise team projects might negatively influence students’attitude towards collective work. Value: On the labour market the teamwork skills are one of the most important skills of employees,as the team-based organizational designs are becoming the norm in work organization. The studyis contributing to the understanding of the relations between student experiences and their attitudesas well as the role played by high education in the development of these attitudes. Some previousresearch in Anglo-Saxon culture countries indicate that team project assignments realised bystudents during studies might even hinder their attitudes to teamwork and their willingness towork in teams in the future.

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