Facilitating Transfer of Skills between Group Projects and Work Teams

As organizations have adopted team-based work arrangements, the use of group projects in education has also grown. One objective is to help prepare students to be effective team members in organizations. Yet, student comments and instructor observations suggest we may not be achieving this objective. This article shows how to apply transfer of learningprinciples, and findings related to work team effectiveness, to improve the chances of skill transfer between school and work. Recommendations include specific ideas for instructors to use before, during, and after group work, and for faculty to consider from a program-level perspective.