Teaching with and through Teams: Student-Written,Instructor-Facilitated Case Writing and the Signatory Code

Abstract

Modern organizations prize teamwork. Management schools have responded to this reality by integrating teamwork into the curriculum. Two important challenges associated with integrating teams in the management classroom include (a) designing teamwork assignments that achieve multiple, sophisticated learning outcomes and (b) instruction in, and management of, the classic social loafing problem. This article addresses these two challenges. First, it provides a method for designing teamwork assignments using Student Written–Instructor Facilitated (SWIF) case learning. SWIF provides the ideal vehicle for achieving all six of Bloom’s (1956) Educational Objectives— knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Second, it demonstrates the use of the Signatory Code, a team-contracting device that helps teams minimize social loafing. Survey results from 112 students speak to the efficacy of this tandem teaching methodology for blending complex management concepts with genuine team experience.