Teamwork skills: The case of a practical course

Abstract

Despite an apparent demand of the industry, recent studies reveal gaps in graduates' preparedness to work in a real-world organizational environment. Beyond professional knowledge and experience, companies are looking for a set of soft skills. While there is a consensus among scholars that teamwork skills can be learned, many researchers emphasize the challenges of teaching real-world processes, dynamics, and the nature of teamwork. To overcome these challenges and better prepare students for the industry, a practical learning course that mimics the industrial settings was developed and taught. This ongoing study aims to explore the specific characteristics of students' teamwork in a practical course delivered in an industrial setting. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 12 course graduates. Based on the initial data analysis, specific characteristics reported by the interviewees were coordination, synchronization, mutual dependency and responsibility for results, and a unique teamwork atmosphere. These findings can be explained by the practical course settings such as the combination of project and industry-based learning, team formation strategy, mentoring support, communication tools, and grading strategy. The intermediate results show the apparent benefits of project-based and industry-based combined learning for improving software engineering students' soft skills.