I think that this is a combination problem. From the given, the 8 students are taken 3 at a time. This can be solved through using the formula of combination which is C(n,r) = n!/(n-r)!r!. In this case, n is 8 while r is 3. Hence, upon substitution of the values, we have
C(8,3) = 8!/(8-3)!3! C(8,3) = 56
There are 56 3-person teams that can be formed from the 8 students.
