Assessing traits for success in individual and team performance in an engineering course

With increased emphasis on collaboration, integrated project delivery, and high performance project outcomes, the need for improved team and collaborative skills among engineers has created a push for new competencies to be developed within engineering programs. An exploratory study was completed to identify traits of students which are linked to success in a third year undergraduate construction engineering and management course, most notably team projects. The results of the study will be used to improve professional and collaborative skills in the undergraduate engineering curriculum at Penn State. Ninety-five students in an undergraduate course in the Architectural Engineering Department at Penn State were assessed to identify the individual characteristics which led to success in the course on both an individual and team basis. The students were randomly assigned to teams to complete projects during the spring 2008 semester. Individual exam scores, project scores, and team member evaluations were compared with individual trait assessment, using the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Assessment. The paper provides an introduction to emotional intelligence (EI), the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory, and why EI is important to the Architectural Engineering and Construction Industry (AEC). The methodology and results of the student assessment are then presented. The results identify individual team member traits which suggest success of collaboration through improved performance in team projects. The paper concludes with future efforts in progress to help students to improve individual and team EIcompetencies. Copyright ASCE 2009.