Good advice from everyone!
Here's my 2-cents (apologies if I'm restating things others have said or already know):
- You are a manager. Choose teams purposefully, and manage them for success. It takes more effort than handing out individual assignments, not less, so the team effort must also be chosen intentionally for the benefits it will provide to your goals.
- You are also a teacher. Unlike a workforce manager, you don't get to interview and screen applicants for your teams. You must work with everyone you have, which means that on top of being an excellent and very organized manager, you must also be a compassionate leader. It takes more time to be compassionate, not less, so your communication must be efficient. By this I mean you must be a very good listener (both to what is being said, and also to what is being felt). I would advise one-on-one conversations with every student, and with teamwork, I would advise team-meetings with you and each team.
- Like I said - teams are more work, not less! Pick their usage very intentionally. EX: Will they need to work in teams on this sort of thing after this course is over? Are there teamwork related learning objectives in the course? Will diversity benefit the final outcome? Are there diversity and conflict management learning objectives in the course? Etc...
