Rubrics and Teamwork Development in Online Higher Education Business Courses:
Exploring the Connection
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Maureen Snow Andrade
Department of Organizational Leadership Utah Valley University Jill Jasperson Department of Accounting Utah Valley University Ronald Mellado Miller Department of Strategic Management and Operations Utah Valley University Corresponding Author: Maureen Snow Andrade, maureen.andrade@uvu.edu |
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ABSTRACT
Effective teamwork is important in higher education business courses to prepare students for future professional contexts. Learning outcomes resulting from teamwork include motivation, knowledge retention, deep learning, critical thinking, and professional competency development. Effective teams
typically work toward a common goal. When teams know what that goal is, they can collaborate and share their skills to achieve it. Instructors can assist in this process by making assignment goals clear through the use of rubrics that outline assignment expectations and by providing feedback to help
students achieve the goals. This study examined the use of teamwork and rubrics in three different undergraduate courses in a school of business in an open admission regional public university to determine if rubrics improved the effectiveness of student teams. Findings indicate that in the course sections where rubrics were not used, students perceived greater effectiveness in three of the eight areas examined—understanding roles, dividing the work, and contributing equally, suggesting that rubrics may not have the impact expected.
Keywords: teamwork, schools of business, rubrics, learning outcomes
Effective teamwork is important in higher education business courses to prepare students for future professional contexts. Learning outcomes resulting from teamwork include motivation, knowledge retention, deep learning, critical thinking, and professional competency development. Effective teams
typically work toward a common goal. When teams know what that goal is, they can collaborate and share their skills to achieve it. Instructors can assist in this process by making assignment goals clear through the use of rubrics that outline assignment expectations and by providing feedback to help
students achieve the goals. This study examined the use of teamwork and rubrics in three different undergraduate courses in a school of business in an open admission regional public university to determine if rubrics improved the effectiveness of student teams. Findings indicate that in the course sections where rubrics were not used, students perceived greater effectiveness in three of the eight areas examined—understanding roles, dividing the work, and contributing equally, suggesting that rubrics may not have the impact expected.
Keywords: teamwork, schools of business, rubrics, learning outcomes
Preferred Citation:
Andrade, M. S., Jasperson, J., & Miller, R. M. (2021). Rubrics and teamwork development in online higher education business courses: Exploring the connection. International Journal for Business Education, No. 161, 39 - 56.
Andrade, M. S., Jasperson, J., & Miller, R. M. (2021). Rubrics and teamwork development in online higher education business courses: Exploring the connection. International Journal for Business Education, No. 161, 39 - 56.
