Hamel, C. M. (2025, July), GIFTS: Building Empathy and Conflict Resolution Skills: A Role-Playing Activity for First-Year Engineering Faculty and Teams  Paper presented at FYEE 2025 Conference, University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--55265

\bibitem{asee_peer_55265}
  Hamel, C. M. (2025, July), \emph{GIFTS: Building Empathy and Conflict Resolution Skills: A Role-Playing Activity for First-Year Engineering Faculty and Teams}
  Paper presented at FYEE 2025 Conference, University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland.
  10.18260/1-2--55265

Catherine Marie Hamel.  "GIFTS: Building Empathy and Conflict Resolution Skills: A Role-Playing Activity for First-Year Engineering Faculty and Teams".  FYEE 2025 Conference, University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland, 2025, July.  ASEE Conferences, 2025.  https://peer.asee.org/55265 Internet.  12 Aug, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_55265}
  Catherine Marie Hamel.
  "GIFTS: Building Empathy and Conflict Resolution Skills: A Role-Playing Activity for First-Year Engineering Faculty and Teams".
  \emph{FYEE 2025 Conference, University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland, 2025, July}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2025.
  https://peer.asee.org/55265 Internet.  12 Aug, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_55265
author = "Catherine Marie Hamel"
title = "GIFTS: Building Empathy and Conflict Resolution Skills: A Role-Playing Activity for First-Year Engineering Faculty and Teams"
booktitle = "FYEE 2025 Conference"
year = "2025"
month = "July"
address = "University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/55265}
number = {10.18260/1-2--55265}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In this GIFTS paper, the author presents a role-playing activity designed to help participants navigate challenging yet common team situations in first-year engineering design courses. This activity was developed in response to student feedback highlighting negative team experiences, and student frustration around faculty’s response to these team challenges. This activity has been used for faculty professional development, teaching assistant training, and in-class student engagement to improve teamwork and conflict resolution skills.

In this activity, participants are first assigned roles - including instructor, students, teaching fellow, and observer. Participants then engage in scenarios that are based on real student experiences while working in teams. Small groups acted out these scenarios, reflected on challenges, and discussed alternative approaches. A final debriefing session allowed participants to share their insights and strategies with the larger group.

This activity provided faculty with an opportunity to experience student perspectives firsthand while building confidence and familiarity with addressing team conflicts. Many participants reported a shift in how they initially viewed and approached these situations. The activity has since been adapted for undergraduate teaching assistant training and in-class use for first-year engineering students.
AU  - Catherine Marie Hamel
CY  - University of Maryland - College Park, Maryland
DA  - 2025/07/27
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - GIFTS: Building Empathy and Conflict Resolution Skills: A Role-Playing Activity for First-Year Engineering Faculty and Teams
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/55265
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--55265
ER  -