Reflection on effects and students' acceptance of methodical competence trainings

Year: 2009
Editor: Clarke, A, Ion, W, McMahon, C and Hogarth, P
Author: Geis, Christian; Birkhofer, Herbert
Section: NEW PEDAGOGY
Page(s): 227-232

Abstract

A methodical procedure can assist design teams in developing innovative and successful products. Nevertheless, university education often neglects the aspects of methodical teamwork. In this paper we present a training focusing on the methodical competence of teams which complements the education of students and can be used for continuing the education of designers in the industry as well. The training was developed at the Technische Universität Darmstadt and was successfully tested in two cycles on student teams. This paper describes the structure and contents of the training and the effects on the participants' performance. For the evaluation, the teams played Delta Design Game, a game with complex requirements where teams have to methodically cooperate to find good solutions to problems. The results and the teams' behavior are described in this paper and based on the qualitative and quantitative analyses, a reflection on the training is given.

Keywords: Training, education, competence, teams, delta design game