Authors
Éva Kalmár
Department of Design, Organisation and Strategy, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4616-8047
Synopsis
While teamwork is considered one of the core transversal competencies expected from engineers and is widely implemented in engineering education, educators often have limited exposure to knowledge of team dynamics and processes, which can make it challenging for them to set up effective team-based learning. In this chapter, we discuss the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required for students to perform teamwork effectively. We dive into various team processes, such as action-oriented behaviours and emergent states that are built through interpersonal interactions during teamwork, which are crucial for functional and effective teams. Building on conceptual foundations, we provide educational examples on how to form and support student teams and how to provide training in conflict management. The chapter also lists our recommendations for setting up teamwork-based learning, forming teams, and managing teams, especially when teams experience problems. We share a concrete teamwork session lesson plan as an inspiration source for educators who struggle with incorporating a teamwork-themed workshop into their modules.
Author Biographies
Éva Kalmár, Department of Design, Organisation and Strategy, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Kalmár, Éva (0000-0003-4616-8047) is an Assistant Professor in Communication Design for Innovation in the Faculty of Industrial Design at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. She researches the dynamics of transdisciplinary collaborations in the context of innovation and is involved in competency-related education design.
Siqing Wei, First Year Engineering Program, Rayen School of Engineering, Youngstown State University, United States of America
Wei, Siqing (0000-0002-7086-5953) is an Assistant Professor at Youngstown State University. His research interests span several major research topics, including teamwork, AI in education, cultural diversity, and engineering education in primarily teaching institutions. He is a former member of CATME lab.
Yousef Jalali, Leuven Engineering and Science Education Center (LESEC), Faculty of Engineering Technology, KU Leuven, Belgium
Jalali, Yousef (0000-0002-1311-2058) is a Research Associate in the Engineering Technology Education Research group at KU Leuven, Belgium, with a PhD in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech. His research includes redesigning learning environments to promote more flexible learning pathways and investigating effective and innovative approaches to teaching professional competencies.
Homero Murzi, Departement of Multidisciplinary Engineering, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, United States of America
Murzi, Homero (0000-0003-3849-2947) is an Associate Professor of Engineering Education at Texas A&M University, USA. His research examines engineering learning, competency development, and emotions and motivation in engineering education. He serves in the American Society for Engineering Education and as Chair of the Research in Engineering Education Network (REEN).
Published
August 26, 2026
Copyright (c) 2026 Gillian Saunders-Smits, Lynn Van den Broeck, Thies Johannsen
How to Cite
Kalmár, Éva, Wei, S., Jalali, Y., & Murzi, H. (2026). Teamwork. In
SEFI Handbook on Teaching Transferable Competencies and Skills in Engineering (pp. 183-202). TU Delft OPEN Books.
https://doi.org/10.59490/mt.266.62
