Publication

Moving Beyond "Breaking Ice" to "Building Bonds" in Engineering Classrooms: An Evaluation Framework for Team Building Activities

2025

Abstract

Engineering curricula frequently require students to engage in group work and interact with practitioners. To facilitate team building and cohesion, engineering instructors often propose and facilitate “icebreakers” or team-building activities. However, not all activities are designed with inclusivity as the focus and could inadvertently lead to reinforcing biases or students feeling excluded. This workshop introduced the participants to a framework developed using evidence-based approaches to team building, with a focus on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Participants evaluated an existing activity based on the framework, proposed modifications to refine the framework, and were provided an opportunity to sue it in identifying areas for improvement in one of their own activities.

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/f6934f1a-2779-48c0-bfa0-d77aa4cc1c77

About this result

This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.

Graph Chat

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.

2025

Abstract

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/f6934f1a-2779-48c0-bfa0-d77aa4cc1c77

About this result

Related concepts (30)

Team building

Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is distinct from team training, which is designed by a combine of business managers, learning and development/OD (Internal or external) and an HR Business Partner (if the role exists) to improve the efficiency, rather than interpersonal relations. Many team-building exercises aim to expose and address interpersonal problems within the group.

Team

A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, "[a] team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to information, resources, knowledge and skills and who seek to combine their efforts to achieve a common goal". A group does not necessarily constitute a team. Teams normally have members with complementary skills and generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses.

Confirmation bias

Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignoring contrary information, or when they interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing attitudes. The effect is strongest for desired outcomes, for emotionally charged issues, and for deeply entrenched beliefs.