Armatas, Christine and Lam, Louis (2010) Diversity in teams - opportunities and challenges. In: Engaging for the future, 12-15 October, 2010, Darling Harbour, N.S.W.. (Unpublished)

Abstract

The upsurge in the requirement for team - based assessment at university has been well documented. In this paper, a first year unit, Professional Development 1: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving (PD1), at Victoria University (VU) in Melbourne, Australia, is used as a case study to examine issues concerning diversity in team - based assessment. Diversity in the classroom has bee n identified as a both a challenge and an opportunity for academics in Australian universities, so arguably, diversity in team - based learning presents similar opportunities and challenges. While findings from focus groups in Melbourne suggest that unintend ed outcomes for international students of team - based learning in PD1 include improved English language proficiency, increased confidence and opportunities to mix with local students, these outcomes are in part due to the remarkable diversity of the student cohort in Melbourne. The diversity of student teams in Hong Kong is different and does not necessarily include the linguistic and cultural diversity evident in Melbourne. Comments from Student Unit Evaluations and findings from student focus groups conduc ted in Melbourne and Hong Kong illustrate the student experience of diversity and teams in these different cohorts. Issues such as the fairness of team - based assessment and the capacity of team - based learning to develop student capabilities, such as the ab ility to work collaboratively and in a socially and culturally responsible manner, are considered. -Australian International Education Conference

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