Trials and tribulations in perfecting student collaboration and teamwork in the biosciences

Collaboration and teamwork are regarded as essential skills for students to develop in order to succeed in the modern workplace. They are ubiquitously listed as one of the key graduate attributes to develop and approaches to the development of teams are expected by Professional, Statutory, and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs) such as the Royal Society of Biology. However, perfecting, teaching, and assessing these skills giving weight and wider context can be challenging along with convincing students of their value. This is particularly affected by the interplay of dependency on other team members, mutual trust and respect, team ownership, individual/team contribution, and the impact of sound communication, decision making and conflict resolution skills, which can all affect the outcome. This presentation will explore a ten-year journey into the trials and tribulations in attempting to replicate and test many of the available examples to perfecting student collaboration and teamwork in the biosciences. It will provide insights for delegates into the challenges faced and open discussion into some of the strategies employed to overcome these challenges in getting closer to ensuring higher levels of student satisfaction and enhanced team experience.