Developing teamwork skills in a course on ore deposits

Teamwork has distinct pedagogic advantages and is also an important transferable skill and the dominant mode of work graduates encounter in the workplace. However, students rarely become proficient in teamwork skills during their education. The goal was to test strategies to improve teamwork skills in a course on Ores deposits, MSc Earth Science, Uppsala University. A focus on team-work was established by presenting the collaborative practicals as a series of linked opportunities to work together, get feedback on the teamwork process and reflect on and evaluate the teamwork. During the collaborative PBL sessions sociograms were used to provide feedback. Criteria based evaluation was also used to evaluate task oriented and interpersonal skills. Sociograms and criteria based evaluation promoted behavioural changes that improved teamwork interactions.