MAILING LISTS

Hi

I would like to point out that small group learning is
very...very...very....different than TBL

Model's (like the University of Phoenix Model) that have GROUPS of students
work on product based assignments often won't have much in common with TBL.

The Achilles heal of product based assignments is social loafing...if I want
51% and you want 90%....this is going to create unresolvable problems...we
often don't have peer evaluation systems that let us give zero to the team
mate that never shows up and never contributes. One of my friend completed
an online masters and had one course where one team mate never showed up and
never contributed....and was given zero on the peer evaluations by the other
team mates....but the peer evaluation only counted for 10% of course
grade....so the non-performer got a passing course grade for NO work. Many
cooperative/collaboartive techniques (Johnson and Johnson type) have crazy
complicated individual accountability measures in the GROUP product to try
to fix this. 

TBL doesn't need this since it has TEAMS do something that TEAMS are good
at....make decisions....

Any time you encounter group dysfunction....the first place to look is at
the task....what I have asked the group to do?....many kinds of tasks (like
large products) often lead to dysfunction.

TBL has a very specific way of ensuring that students are ready to wrestle
with the problem (readiness assurance) and gives students significant
problems to wrestle with and getting immediate and unambiguous feedback of
their thinking, their teams thinking, and other teams thinking.

TBL is really focused on student TEAMS making decisions and getting very
immediate feedback on those decisions whether it is immediate feedback from
the IF-AT cards in the TEAM test or from other TEAMS during application
activity reporting.

Their are a number of schools in Japan, Korea, Singapore and across the far
east that are using TBL quite successfully....the stereotype of the passive
Asian student has turned out to not be true in the TBL classroom.

My two cents

jim


> From: Brent Duncan <[log in to unmask]>
> Reply-To: Brent Duncan <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:56:52 -0800
> To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Research concept: Assessing team learning with remedial learners at a
> Japanese university
> 
> Hello TBL folks,
> 
> For your consideration and comment, I am posting a link to a concept
> paper for a research project through which I will assess the viability of a
> team learning model with remedial students at a local college in
> Northeastern Japan.
> 
> Those of you who are familiar with Japanese higher education know that
> collaborative processes and higher education are mutually exclusive
> concepts. Considering the Western perception of Japan as a
> collaborative society, this seems to reflect a fundamental dissonance
> between societal values and institutional practices. I had an opportunity
> to discuss this dissonance during a workshop on small-group learning
> processes I gave to the faculty of a Japanese university in July
> (http://www.gakushuu.org/humans/learning/team-based-learning-
> resources). The concepts met with significant resistance; but, triggered
> enough interest that the University asked me to conduct research to
> test the viability of small-group learning on their campus with student
> volunteers. 
> 
> I merged ideas from TBL and the University of Phoenix Learning Team
> model to create a process that I think will be most effective for this
> specific group and project. Since TBL folks contributed to my project,
> you are welcome to gather ideas from here. I also would appreciate
> hearing your thoughts, especially if you can offer suggestions for
> improving the process.
> 
> One thing I ask is that this document remains within this group; please
> do not distribute this document without asking me.
> 
> https://docs.google.com/open?
> id=0B2M6UHnEAG6JNDYwMWE3ZGYtZjYzNC00YThlLWI5YWEtZDdhMDc5O
> TIyYWE3
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Brent Duncan, Lead Faculty
> University of Phoenix School of Business
> Asia Campus, Misawa Air Base, Japan