Supporting Project Team Formation for Self-directed Learners

The outcomes of project-based learning can be optimized if team formation experts assemble the project teams. For self-directed learners in globalized online learning settings human team formation experts might be unavailable. The question is addressed about how to provide team formation services for such learners. A model of the team formation process is defined, based on current team formation theory. It is used to design an automated team formation service that can be used by self-directed learners to form teams for project-based learning. Starting from a project description situated in a knowledge domain, the model defines three categories of variables that govern the team formation process: knowledge, personality and preferences. Learners’ scores on these categories are analyzed and combined into scores on the new concept of a learners’ “project suitability”, on the base of which teams can be suggested. A discussion of the outcomes and an overview of future research are included.