Correlation of learning styles with team performance and perception in a chemical engineering unit operations course

Teamwork is emphasized in high-level engineering courses to help prepare students for their chosen career. When left to self-select, students often form homogenous groups with respect to several indicators, including learning style. While homogeneous groups may occasionally be preferred for specific tasks, heterogeneous groups have shown better performance over a wider range of tasks. Qualitative data (interviews) suggest that students grasp the value of heterogeneous groups and are able to recognize the gains of such diversity. We are interested in the relationship between learning styles and team dynamics in advanced chemical engineering students taking the team-based unit operations course. We are looking to correlate team composition with respect to learning styles preferences with team performance and student perceptions of team efficacy. Students are given a learning styles questionnaire to determine preferences in the course's lecture portion. These are used to identify potential correlations between team make-up, team performance and student perceptions during the subsequent laboratory portion. Understanding variability in performance based on team composition can help elucidate the complex nature of team dynamics. Armed with such information, instructors can create the most educationally efficient teams, and students will have a better understanding of teams as they enter the workforce.