In order to analyze teamwork, I have the students in my classes do various silly activities that I’ve stolen from people or from websites here and there. One of my favorite is the spaghetti marshmellow tower. After building the tower, the students then analyze their role in their group. So the way the tower works is that students must “buy” their materials (spaghetti = 10 ¢, large marshmellow = 25¢, small marshmellow = 5¢). The tallest tower wins, the cheapest breaks a tie. The rules are that the tower must support a ping pong ball at the top and the tower must be free standing long enough for me to measure it. Often the groups get competitive with each other, which makes it entertaining and messier.
My business communication students this semester built the tallest towers yet. Both were over 25 inches if memory serves. They were solid structures, too. I was impressed. One of the students took pics and posted them on our class Facebook page. So here they are:
