Assessing Global Competence and Teamology for Collaborative Engineering

dc.contributor.authorCobert, Matthew Johnen
dc.contributor.committeechairBohn, Jan Helgeen
dc.contributor.committeememberHuxtable, Scott T.en
dc.contributor.committeememberWilliams, Christopher B.en
dc.contributor.departmentMechanical Engineeringen
dc.date.accessioned2014-03-14T20:47:59Zen
dc.date.adate2011-11-30en
dc.date.available2014-03-14T20:47:59Zen
dc.date.issued2011-10-07en
dc.date.rdate2012-06-22en
dc.date.sdate2011-11-15en
dc.description.abstractThere is a need to make measureable improvements to the global competency of engineering students that will enable them to work more effectively with overseas colleagues. However, there are few assessment tools that offer clear guidance on which types of global exposure (coursework, virtual collaboration, or education abroad) provide substantial benefit. Additionally, with the increasing reliance on teams to solve problems in both industry and academia, there is a need to ensure high-performance and inventiveness. This thesis addresses these two challenges by 1) developing a new assessment tool for gauging global competency and evaluating a commercially-available tool, and 2) validating and simplifying Wilde's teamology method for assembling better teams. The newly developed Global Competence Survey (GCS) is a quick and effective tool that is able to delineate between student groups based upon duration of education abroad. In its current form, the GCS works by assessing student knowledge of key facts about USA and Germany, and their ability to recognize cultural images. This first attempt shows statistically significant differences between domestic, three-month abroad, and year-long abroad students in these critical areas. Additionally, the teamology method was confirmed empirically by analyzing the performance of two-person global research teams assembled using traditional selection criteria. This analysis shows that teams with greater personality diversity exhibit far higher performance and stronger cohesion. When coupled with functional role requirements, teamology provides an opportunity to dramatically enhance the team performance and cohesion of an available talent pool.en
dc.description.degreeMaster of Scienceen
dc.identifier.otheretd-11152011-200605en
dc.identifier.sourceurlhttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-11152011-200605/en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/35716en
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.relation.haspartCobert_MJ_T_2011.pdfen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectTeamologyen
dc.subjectGlobal Competenceen
dc.subjectGlobalizationen
dc.subjectEducation Abroaden
dc.subjectAssessmenten
dc.titleAssessing Global Competence and Teamology for Collaborative Engineeringen
dc.typeThesisen
thesis.degree.disciplineMechanical Engineeringen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.levelmastersen
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Scienceen

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