Download Powerpoint Slides - Morrow, Michael G.

Teaching Improvement Program
“Your Students and Their
Conflict Resolution in a
Classroom Setting”
Teaching Improvement Program
Conflict Resolution:
When bad things happen
to good teams…
Introduction
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Facilitators
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Andrea Prasse, Graduate Student, EMA
Michael Morrow, Faculty Associate, ECE
David Prasse, Associate Dean, Loyola Univ of Chicago
Workshop Goal
Learn some practical techniques to help reduce
conflict within student teams, and to more
effectively resolve conflict that occurs.
Workshop Overview
Why does conflict occur, how will I know it is
happening, and what can I do about it?
 Student teams – good, bad and ugly
 Sources of conflict
 Conflict resolution
 Case studies
 Wrap-up
What you get out of this workshop will be directly
related to your level of participation!
Why would we want to use
student teams anyway?
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In your groups, create a list of what you think
the possible reasons for using student teams
are.
Be prepared to share your responses with the
group.
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You have 3 minutes.
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Time’s up! Let’s see what you’ve got…
Reasons for Using Student
Teams
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Break routine of individual work
Build leadership skills
Facilitate problem solving
Develop skills for cooperative
efforts
More comprehensive assignments
possible
Make connections with classmates
Collaborative/cooperative learning
Reduction of grading workload
Group Exercise
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Many teams will work well without any
problems. However, some teams will
have trouble and the members will come
into conflict with one another.
At your table,
• Create a list of possible causes of conflict within
a team.
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Group exercise – you have 5 minutes…
Group Exercise
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Many teams will work well, without any
problems. However, some teams will
have trouble and the members will come
into conflict with one another.
At your table,
• Create a list of possible causes of conflict within
a team.
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Time’s Up
Causes of Conflict
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Personal
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Personality clashes
Problem personalities
Idiosyncrasies of members
Structural
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Mismatch of capabilities/interest/motivation
No shared goals, different goals
Lack of sufficient structure
Lack of necessary member skills
Lack of/too much/inappropriate leadership
External
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Relationships
Past experience
Other
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Differing expectations (grades, quality, performance)
Recognizing Conflict
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How will you know that there is conflict
within a team? What are the symptoms?
2 min - Individually create a list of 3 to 5
possible answers.
3 min – Form pairs, then create a single
list of your top 2 to 3 answers.
Step 3 – Share your answers with the
group at large.
Recognizing Conflict - How
will I know?
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Member complains
Work not on schedule
No interaction among group members
Some members not interacting
Not task oriented, too involved with
process of group
Disparity between group and
individual performance
So, what can I do if a team is in
conflict?
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If you prescribe team activities for
your students, you need to be
able to deal with conflict that might
arise - so, what are your possible
options if a team is in conflict?
Be prepared to share your
responses with the group.
Group exercise: 5 minutes
Time’s up! Let’s make a
consolidated list…
Conflict Resolution Strategies –
Reactive
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Deal with it sooner than later
Speak with complaining member
individually and privately
• Follow-up with member after corrective action
attempted
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Keep group task oriented
Try to coach members to a solution without
resorting to direct intervention
Some conflict is normal – don’t over-react
Conflict Resolution Strategies –
Preventative
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Have specific assignments with timelines
All members must approve final product
Put sufficient infrastructure in place
Require team contracts
• Meeting times/dates/place
• Roles and rotation plan
• Disputes and arbitration clause
Confidential individual assessments of
both team’s and members’ performance
Case Studies
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Each group should
• Read their case study
• Determine how they might handle it
• Be ready to present the case study and their
plan to handle the situation to the group
Workshop Wrap-up
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Any questions / discussion?
That’s all, folks!
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Thanks for your participation, and good
luck in your courses this semester.
Please remember to fill out your survey
form, and be sure that you signed in so
that you get credit for attendance.