6. Overall summary and conclusions

In closing, this paper presented our framework for assessing teamwork as part of ALL. The framework was derived from the literature on teams and on what is currently known about effective team performance. We have tried to capture the fundamental constructs underlying effective teamwork, in the anticipation that these constructs will generalize to a wide variety of countries, even if their expression may differ across cultures.

In addition to delineating the key facets of teamwork, this paper has also presented our approach to measurement. Although it will not be possible to measure team skill competencies through direct observation, we will nevertheless assess respondents' knowledge of teamwork skills and respondents' attitudes toward working in teams. The results will provide insight into the distribution of these constructs in the international adult population.

Finally, we view this framework as a work in progress for two reasons. First, as with all survey development, we envision conducting significant pilot testing on the approaches we have selected. This testing is likely to lead to revision of our measurement strategies. Although the strategies we have suggested have been effective in other domains, their efficacy for assessing teamwork on an international level has yet to be determined. Second, new information becomes available on teams and the nature of teamwork almost daily. The field is growing and changing concurrently with our efforts. In response, we view our framework as evolving as well; thus, we will incorporate relevant new findings as they become available.