The Teamwork Assessment (TwA) is a tool used by Course Instructors (called Advisers) to monitor team dynamics and encourage best practices for teamwork within their classes. As of summer 2021, TwA is integrated with Canvas, allowing automatic creation of student accounts and teams formation based upon Canvas groups, as well as automatic assignment creation for students to assess each other.
Let Professor Adam Goodman, a clinical professor in the McCormick School of Engineering, Director of Northwestern Center for Leadership and Principal Investigator of the Leadership Portal, introduce you to the Teamwork Assessment in the video below.
Benefits of the Teamwork Assessment
- Provides a structured method for giving and receiving anonymized feedback on a team
- Automatically compares how students rate themselves versus how others rate them
- Serves as a platform for confidential comments to the Adviser
- Allows students to rate the support they receive from their Adviser
- Prompts students to reflect upon and adjust their own teamwork habits
- Helps teams set goals for the future
- Sends students automated reminders before assignment due dates
- Can be customized to fit the needs and length of the class
- Student Groups from Canvas are translated into teams
First-time users should contact the Center for Leadership for assistance in getting started. If you are already familiar with the tool, please follow these next steps:
- Find the TwA app in the NU Learning Apps tab in your Canvas course.
- Click the button to Install Now.
- Create groups within your Canvas course.
- Explore our template options and choose one that best suits the needs of your course. If you would like a more customized alternative, contact the Center for Leadership.
- Adjust the default schedule to fit the length and cadence of your course.
Institutions who use the TwA
At NU: McCormick, Farley Center, The Garage, School of Professional Studies
External: Claremont McKenna College, Georgia Tech, Texas Tech, Penn State
Adviser Dashboard in Canvas
The Adviser Dashboard displays all of the teams currently assigned to you as the team Adviser. You can edit the due dates of the assignments within the TwA at any time during the course and the due dates in Canvas will also automatically change. You can also quickly read if individual students have completed an active assignment or not. Green dots indicate that they have finished, red means that they have not finished, and an unfilled dot indicates that no exercise is assigned.
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Student View in Canvas
Screenshots of students evaluating team member contributions and mid-project review.
Getting Started
Watch the video below for a detailed overview of a typical assessment. Contact lead@northwestern.edu to get your Assessment template set up with your Canvas course site during a 1:1 walkthrough. It typically takes an hour in order to customize the TwA for your class.
See NU Canvas page for more information: https://canvas.northwestern.edu/courses/1580/pages/teamwork-assessment
Log In
First-time users should contact the Center for Leadership for assistance in getting started. If you are already familiar with the tool, please follow these next steps:
- Find the TwA app in the NU Learning Apps tab in your Canvas course.
- Click the button to Install Now.
- Create groups within your Canvas course.
- Explore our template options and choose one that best suits the needs of your course. If you would like a more customized alternative, contact the Center for Leadership.
- Adjust the default schedule to fit the length and cadence of your course.
Go to your Canvas course site and click on Modules OR log in directly at https://leadportal.northwestern.edu/login
Page last updated on 11/2/2021
