Developingcompetency in essential communication practices and conflict approaches can enhance student performance and satisfaction in collaborative learning environments.

Objectives

• To understand how managing the communication cycle can lead to improved individual and group performance in learning teams
• To understand feedback as a process for generating individual and group growth
• To differentiate between functional and dysfunctional conflict
• To consider how using different communication styles can help us to manage different types of conflict more effectively

Have you ever been on a winning team? How did it make you feel to be a participating team member? Did you have more fun playing the game with others than when you played the game alone? Did you become a better player by practicing with the other team members? Did the team become more successful when it helped individuals develop better skills? Have you ever noticed effective groups that achieve high-performance levels, like a championship baseball team, a rock band, a debate team, a school orchestra, or a product development team? What makes those groups successful?