Students’ Understanding and Perceptions of Assigned Team Roles in a Classroom Laboratory Environment

Abstract

Using a cooperative learning framework in a quantitative reasoning laboratory course, students were assigned to static teams of four in which they adopted roles that rotated regularly. The roles included: team leader, protocol manager, data recorder, and researcher. Using a mixed-methods approach, the authors investigated students’ perceptions of the team roles and specifically addressed students’ understanding of the roles, students’ beliefs in their ability to enact the roles, and whether working with assigned team roles supported the teams to work effectively and cohesively.