Virtual Student Teamwork in Higher Education: Is There a Secret Recipe for Productivity?

Virtual teamwork in higher education is increasingly common. Asynchronous course delivery may provide additional challenges, particularly when collaborating on projects. In this study, we examine the influences of personality and teamwork attributes using regression and correlation analysis to determine which factors contribute the most to real and perceived productivity. Results indicate that individual students who were rated high in both planning and management experienced the most loss of perceived productivity when working on teams. Students on teams with higher-than-average team ratings in both providing a supportive team environment and high responsiveness to feedback, reported the highest gains in perceived productivity. These findings suggest that active approaches to creating supportive team environments and more feedback opportunities throughout the project lifespan could increase overall student team experiences with virtual teamwork.