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TEAM CONTRACTS

Team contracts are a useful medium for students to express their goals and articulate acceptable standards of effort and contribution, towards the group project. Although many teams do not refer back to their contracts, the formal and safe setting of the contract creation exercise helps to clarify expectations from the onset.

This task is most suitable for:

Interactions
Single (monodisciplinary) or mixed (interdisciplinary) groups

Degree of Integration
Multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary

Problem structure
Structured or open-ended problems

Skill targets
Interdisciplinary problem-solving, team skills

Ability to generate
analogies/metaphors

Enhanched
critical thinking

Ability to communicate disciplinary content

Ability to interpret
other disciplines

Interactional
expertise

Humility, sensitivity
to bias and empowerment

Systems-thinking

Knowledge
integration

Methodological
integration

Assessing value/pay-off
of identification

Problem-framing

Identification
task allocation

Methodological 
choice

Evaluation

Identifying and
sharing competencies

Defining/assigning
roles

Defining shared
group values

Defining rules of operation
and group engagement

Facilitating
communication

Coordinating
roles/tasks

Facilitating
feedback

Consensus and
trust building

Facilitating personal
development

Looking for inspiration?

ITP Metrics provides a great example of team contracts. Use the button below to visit their website.

To ITP Metrics

Ready-made Resources

Team Contract

Here are both formal and less formal templates to use.

Team Contract and Setting Expectations Resource Pack

Here a lesson plan, lesson slides and contract templates are available.  

Interesting Sources

Description of paper by Brannen et al.:
Brannen, S., Beauchamp, D., Cartwright, N., Liddle, D., Tishinsky, J., Newton, G., & Monk, J. (2021). Effectiveness of Group Work Contracts to Facilitate Collaborative Group Learning and Reduce Anxiety in Traditional Face-to-Face Lecture and Online Distance Education Course Formats. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 15. doi:10.20429/ijsotl.2021.150205