GRA 2427 Groups and Teams: Dynamics and Effectiveness
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APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2015/2016 |
GRA 2427 Groups and Teams: Dynamics and Effectiveness
Responsible for the course
Hallvard Føllesdal
Department
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour
Term
According to study plan
ECTS Credits
6
Language of instruction
English
Introduction
Organizations frequently use groups and teams to accomplish tasks, and several psychological processes may affect groups’ performance. This course will provide an overview of some of the major theories and studies that may help understand psychological processes in groups and teams. The theories are related to issues such as group composition, group development, group dynamics, and group effectiveness. The theories and the scientific evidence will be examined and discussed. Students will work in groups during the course, presenting and discussing literature, and participate in various exercises related to groups and team processes described in the literature.
Learning outcome
Knowledge
The course will provide an overview of major theories and studies related to psychological processes in and between groups, affecting their performance. Some of these processes will be demonstrated by group exercises. The course will provide students with knowledge of major theories related to group processes and group effectiveness, and enhance their ability to critically assess the empirical evidence for such theories. The course will also provide the opportunity to learn about group and team dynamics through practical exercises.
Skills
The students will be better able to recognize and identify processes in groups, and use psychological theories to understand such processes. Students should also be able to critically examine theories explaining why some groups are more effective than others. They will get experience with working in groups, and present and discuss theories and studies about group processes and group effectiveness.
Reflection
Students will learn how to reflect on issues related to group processes and studies explaining psychological processes in groups. They should be able to be critical toward theories of group performance, and use this knowledge to guide their approach when working with groups. Participants will also be provided an opportunity to reflect upon their own behaviour in groups.
Prerequisites
GRA 2205 Organizational Behaviour or equivalent
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have spesific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Compulsory reading
Books:
Forsyth, Donelson R. 2013. Group dynamics. 6th ed. Wadsworth Cengage learning
Other:
A collection of research articles will be made available before the course starts
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.
Recommended reading
Course outline
- Important factors that influence effectiveness in groups
- Group effectiveness, group composition, and group processes
- Creativity in groups
- Conflict and groups
- Leadership in groups
- Assessment of groups and teams
- Team interventions
Computer-based tools
Not applicable
Learning process and workload
The course is structured as a combination of lectures, group exercises, group presentations and group discussions. Students will work in groups most of the time. The course requires a substantial amount of preparation by the students and active involvement in the groups. A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.
Students are required to attend the first day of class, or inform the instructor in advance about their absence. If not, they may be excluded from the course.
Please note that it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.
Examination
The course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:
70% three hour written examination
30% class participation (group)
| Form of assessment | Weight | Group size |
| Written examination 3 hours | 70% | Individual |
| Class participation | 30% | Group of max 3 students |
Specific information regarding student assessment will be provided in class. This information may be relevant to requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several components of the overall assessment. This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded using points on a scale from 0-100. The final grade for the course is based on the aggregated mark of the course components. Each component is weighted as detailed in the course description. Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam components will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the points system and the mapping scale in the student portal @bi.
Examination code(s)
GRA 24271 continuous assessment accounts for 100% of the grade in GRA 2427
Examination support materials
Bilingual dictionary
Permitted examination support materials for written examinations are detailed under examination information in the student portal @bi. The section on support materials and the use of calculators and dictionaries should be paid special attention to.
Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught. The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code. Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes. All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee. Please note that you need to retake the latest version of the course with updated course literature and assessment. Please make sure that you have familiarised yourself with the latest course description.
Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.
Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.