Qualitative Virtual Team Research as Training Method in a Postgraduate Program in Administration (original) (raw)

Research as Teaching and Teaching as Research: Reflections on a Virtual Team Project

MWAIS 2006 Proceedings, 2006

In the academic world, the transition from student to researcher is often a difficult step. Novice researchers are often hindered by a lack of mentorship and lack of awareness of the demands of research. The challenges are especially interesting in the study of collaboration and virtual teams, given the added layer of technology and tools that are an essential part of conducting such research. To address these issues, we designed and implemented an experiential doctoral seminar for advanced students in Information Technology. This paper describes the seminar, which focused on the research topic of virtual teams. The paper provides supporting theories for the approach and discusses experiences encountered during the first offering of the seminar.

Teachers and students’ perceptions about remote teaching in higher education: online qualitative research

Revista Pesquisa Qualitativa, 2022

This study analyses the impacts and challenges of emergency remote teaching in Higher Education institutions in Porto due to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. We carried out an exploratory study of a qualitative nature to analyze the perceptions of teachers and students about the digitalisation of the teaching and learning process in Higher Education. Data were collected through semi-structured online, synchronous interviews with ten professors, who accepted to participate, and balances of the lived experience written and made available on the Moodle Platform by ten students. Subsequently, content analysis and triangulation were carried out with the support of the Nvivo Software. The study revealed that remote teaching in Higher Education had an impact on reinforcing the training of teachers and students in using new technologies and on changing pedagogical practices. In addition, it can contribute to researchers' reflections on online data collection in qualitative research.

Working in Virtual Teams: A Systematic Literature Review and a Bibliometric Analysis

IEEE Access, 2020

Modern developments in technology have changed the way we socialize, communicate and work. Globalization, Information and Communication Technologies, digital culture and the increase in the amount of technology available for online communication mean that more organizations are implementing virtual teams. The growth in the use of virtual teams in organizations has incited researchers to investigate the different aspects, factors and challenges of these teams. This article uses a systematic literature review and a bibliometric analysis of virtual teams to identify the most relevant articles on the subject. These articles are then thoroughly reviewed and finally, a summary is made of all the research published over a five-year period. The systematic review of literature proposed by Ramey and Rao [1] and enhanced by Pulsiri and Thesenvitz [2] was used to examine the Scopus and Web of Science databases to identify the theories, research problems, research methodologies and results of 2354 studies on virtual teams published between 2015 and 2019. The main topics of the existing research in the field are reviewed, and the main limitations, problems and existing gaps in research are presented. INDEX TERMS Systematic literature review, bibliometric analysis, COVID-19, thematic analysis, virtual teams. I. INTRODUCTION Crises, wars, disasters and epidemics have triggered or accelerated changes in all types of activities, including the ways we live and work. Currently, the COVID-19 outbreak is a global health challenge. Health authorities suggest that ''it is time for businesses, hospitals, schools and citizens to start preparing''. Many companies have chosen to reduce risks by using remote working or working from home to prevent employees from being in close contact and spreading the virus [3]. Globalization, improvements in information and communication technologies (ICTs), the increase in the number of remote workers and the emergence of computer-mediated groups, have led to changes in how workers communicate and collaborate in organizations. With current technological advances, the knowledge economy and digital culture, The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and approving it for publication was Jenny Mahoney. new ways of working are appearing in organizations. This study investigates the type known as virtual teams [4]. For this new type of working groups, the physical limits of distance or differences in time-zone are no longer relevant. Other characteristics of teamwork have become more important when working remotely, such as communication, trust, task characteristics, leadership, cohesion and empowerment, all of which have an impact on a team's performance [5], [6]. However, the number and range of publications available on virtual teams can cause confusion if there is no effective and systematic process for classifying and associating the ideas in them. In addition, advances in information and communication technology means that information is transmitted around the world much faster and this has encouraged academic researchers to produce even more publications and therefore add to the confusion [2]. This excess of information and the confusion caused by it makes a systematic review of the existing literature necessary. The main objective was to find the most important articles

Virtual Teams In Higher Education: The Light And Dark Side

Journal of College Teaching & Learning (TLC), 2011

Students and faculty are grappling with learning teams in the online environment - more than half of all higher education organizations offer online courses (Hoffman, 2006). As online course developers try to replicate the best practices of traditional classrooms, the asynchronous technology of the Internet has added great capability while also increasing the confusion that distance in space and time can add to the learning process. This study conducted a qualitative survey of online learning teams using content analysis by three researchers and grounded theory by the fourth researcher. Analysis of the rich text responses prompted the researchers to propose a model for online team development that reflected the functionality or dysfunctionality of teams. Key influences related to the internal or external locus of control of conscientious students. Key findings include strong connections between conscientiousness and attitude towards teamwork on the input side with satisfaction and t...

Effective Virtual Teamwork Development in Higher Education: A Systematic Literature Review

Edulearn 2019, 2019

The evolution of technological growth and the globalized nature of today's world makes virtual teamwork as one of the building blocks of a successful organization. As a consequence, it rationale the importance of developing virtual teamwork in the higher education arena because it has been considered that future graduates are prepared through their higher education for their foreseeable professional life. Therefore, this paper presents a systematic review on developing virtual teamwork in the context of higher education in order to systematically synthesis and determine what is already know according to the state-of-the-knowledge and find out the gaps that need to focus in the academic domain. More specifically, this paper will present a state-of-the-art on the effective virtual teamwork development in the domain of education, higher education, or university-level education. The Web of Science database has been considered for carrying out this systematic review which is one of the most used and popular databases for conducting research on a particular field of interests. The findings of the reviewed literature show the necessity or importance of integrating virtual teamwork in higher education as well as discusses individual factor and leadership effects on the performance or effectiveness of virtual teamwork. However, there are not any studies that researched the development of effective virtual teamwork in higher education. The systematic literature review on this research subject, therefore, is the primary objective of this research work. document.

Teaching research methods in a distance education context: Concerns and challenges

South African Journal of Higher Education, 2009

This article discusses an investigation conducted to identify challenges associated with teaching research methods in a distance education context. Constructivist learning was used as conceptual framework, in particular socio-constructivist theories, activity theory and Rich environments for active learning (REALs). Two research modules in a master's programme in education formed the basis of the investigation. One module required students to complete a portfolio, while the other involved assignments and an examination. Two cycles of action research were completed over three years. Data were collected by means of questionnaires and an analysis of study packages and other documents. The study revealed a need for improved cooperative support, the introduction of blended learning and the provision of anchored instruction by making more resources available in both modules. In addition, it was shown that the research methodology module would be improved through the provision of authentic learning contexts, opportunities for team research and more authentic assessment practices.

Undergraduate Business Students' Perceptions About Virtual and Remote-Work Leadership Skills

Advances in logistics, operations, and management science book series, 2023

This article compares undergraduate business students' perception of the effectiveness of faculty centric pedagogy and problem based learning (PBL) pedagogy. The 303 participating students had experienced both methodologies. The survey measured the students' perceptions of five learning outcomes: knowledge acquisition, problem solving, critical thinking, teamwork, and self-directed learning. Three areas were measured asking the students to assess their experiences using the rubric's designed by the American Association of Colleges and Universities' Values Project (Sullivan, 2015). The content knowledge gain was measured based on Blooms Taxonomy (Krathwohl, 2002), and the self-directed learning by Knowles definition 1975. The scales were tested for validity and reliability in a pre-test with a different student group. No significant difference based on students' perception of learning outcomes in undergraduate business courses is found between PBL taught classes and faculty lead classes across all five perceptions of learning outcomes. There is also no significant relationship between demographic characteristics of the subjects and learning outcomes. The research results opens the questions the effects of individual course based implementations of PBL, differences in the effects of PBL for undergraduate and graduate students, and the effectiveness of PBL pedagogy in a single course in a degree program.

Undergraduate management students’ perceptions of what makes a successful virtual group

Education + Training, 2012

PurposeThere are a number of factors that are essential to understanding the pedagogy, learning and knowledge requirements of developing virtual platforms for delivering effective course interaction using the World Wide Web (the web). The purpose of this paper is to focus on web‐based group work amongst undergraduate management students, during a two‐year study investigating the development of virtual groups as an important problem‐solving and learning‐enhancement process.Design/methodology/approachThis study is based on the identification of successful groups undertaking undergraduate management courses, where group work is a compulsory component of the course assessment. Focus groups are used to collect a broad qualitative understanding of perceptions of students in relation to success factors. Lexical analysis is then used to analyse data.FindingsLexical analysis provides four clear clusters that the subjects consider are essential to group learning and performance. The outcomes ...