Collaborative Engineering

 

Project Overview:

You will practice positive team collaboration to solve a robotics engineering problem.

 

Directions:

1.    Your instructor will divide the class into groups of three to four.

 

2.    In your group, discuss and establish team norms for working together. Ensure each team member feels comfortable expressing ideas and concerns. Once established, write the team norms in the space below. Use the following questions to guide the discussion:

·      How should work be distributed

·      How should accountability be managed

·      What are the expectations for individual participation and engagement

·      How will team decisions be made

 

3.    Define and assign the roles below to each team member. Depending on the size of the team, multiple people may have the same role. In the space provided, document each member’s role and the tasks their role includes.

·      Team leader

·      Facilitator

·      Task-oriented role

-      be specific about which task this individual is assigned

 

4.    Discuss and establish team procedures. Once all members agree, write the procedures in the space provided below. Use the following questions to guide the discussion:

·      How does an individual submit and record project progress

·      How are different lines of communication used

-      chat versus email

·      How is coverage determined when an individual is on vacation

 

5.    As a team, determine which of the following problems you should address:

·      An 86-year-old man needs help retrieving shoes from the ground

·      A teacher broke their arm and needs assistance writing on the whiteboard

·      A furniture producer needs to drill consistent holes for screws into each of their furniture pieces

 

6.    Based on the selected problem, create a SMART goal for a design to solve the problem. Utilize the space provided to document your SMART goal.

 

7.    Individually, brainstorm possible design solutions to the selected problem. Be prepared to present these solutions to your group.

 

8.    Present your design to the group. Then, as a group, decide on a solution and develop a plan to create or test the selected solution.

 

9.    Review the scenario described below and consider how your team would respond.

·      An individual on your team is not going to meet their agreed-upon deadline. They ask the team for help. Another individual on your team does not offer help, as they believe the individual should have completed their work on time and does not want extra work to pile onto them. As a team, walk through the problem-solving steps outlined in the conflict discussion questions below.

 

10.  Based on the scenario, discuss and answer the scenario reflection questions as a team in the space below.

 

11.  Once completed, turn in the completed project according to your instructor’s directions.

 

Structuring the Team:

1.    Team Norms:

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.    Define and Assign Roles:

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.    Team Procedures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.    Robotic Problem Selected:

 

 

 

5.    SMART Goal:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6.    Team’s Selected Solution:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conflict Discussion Questions:

1.    What is the problem in the provided scenario in Step 9? Consider all perspectives.

 

 

 

 

 

2.    Why is the issue a problem? Why must it be solved? Focus on the issue, not the individuals involved.

 

 

 

 

 

3.    Identify potential solutions, and for each, consider the following questions:

·      Can the solution be easily achieved

·      How much effort will the solution take

·      What are the pros and cons of each solution

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rubric

Description	Possible Points	Your Score
Team Collaboration & Goal Setting: ·      Norms and procedures are established and would benefit a collaborative team ·      A robotics problem was selected ·      SMART goal was outlined based on the problem ·      Roles and tasks were assigned and make sense for the problem	35
Concept & Understanding: ·      Understanding of collaboration is clearly evident ·      Effective strategies were used to go through each step of establishing a collaborative team	35
Conflict Management Scenario: ·      Each question is answered fully and have rational answers ·      Students came to a realistic solution which would solve the listed problem	20
Production & Effort: ·      Class time provided for the project was used efficiently ·      Time and effort are evident in the execution of the end product ·      Students worked collaboratively throughout the project	10
Total Points	100