Editorial Record: Submitted July 20, 2024. Revised October 17, 2024. Accepted February 10, 2025.

Authors

ABSTRACT

A significant challenge academic courses face is how best to group students for a semester-long project in strategic communication or public relations courses. This research aims to determine whether using the Enneagram of Personality’s Harmony Triads to contextualize the formation of student groups in public relations courses increases the quality of group experiences and the effectiveness of project teams. An experiment was conducted over two academic years: one taught with the Enneagram framework and one without. Assessments and findings are based on comparing data gathered via peer evaluations, final group projects, and course grades. Results show group and final grades increase when project teams are formed using the Enneagram, suggesting the framework facilitates group cohesion, increased productivity, and higher grades.