Abstract: Creation of teams in professional and student contexts has been well researched and written about. The research landscape can be divided into instructor selected and student selected teams, both of which have advantages and disadvantages of each of these techniques. The purpose of this paper is to combine the two techniques for creating teams in an effort to maximize the advantages and minimize the disadvantages all while maintaining the end goal – that of achieving high student satisfaction - consistent. The paper explores a technique for creating student teams to maximize student satisfaction in a high pressure project using two antecedents: (i) prior academic performance in the same major and (ii) the extent to which their teammate selections are complied with. Student’s satisfaction is measured by a survey developed and used for a similar project. Results confirm that academic performance is a clear predictor of student satisfaction; however the act of student selecting their teammates has a very small impact in their level of satisfaction in the team. The causes of this outcome are discussed along with a few limitations of the study and implications.

Keywords: academics, student selected teams, team formation, Creating teams, student satisfaction

Download this article: ISEDJ - V9 N1 Page 14.pdf

Recommended Citation: Matta, V., Luce, T., Ciavarro, G. (2011). Exploring Impact of Self-selected Student Teams and Academic Potential on Student Satisfaction. Information Systems Education Journal, 9(1) pp 14-23. http://isedj.org/2011-9/ ISSN: 1545-679X. (A preliminary version appears in The Proceedings of ISECON 2010)