Molly:
Here's my fundamental reaction to your fun idea about letting some students
opt out of TBL in a TBL class.... If the students who opt out do stay in
the same section of the class, then you are looking at big problems. This
is because; if they were hostile or problematic within the team-based
framework, just imagine how problematic they'll be as folks who are
sidelined in team activities.
While teams are working together, they'll be causing problems. Plus, it's
the intra-team peer pressure (and role-modeling) that works so well to keep
problematic students more inline.
It is a fun idea though. I too have had some complainers. I'm thinking
that a good deal of this comes from the increased student participation that
TBL requires. The good news for me is that the ones I have not been able to
reach seem simply to have been bound and determined to find something to
complain about. Cursed as I seem to be, one of these complainers is now our
undergrad statistics tutor who has her desk outside my door (where she
complains loudly about many and various things).
Now, if you could let all opt-outers form their own section of principles or
such, that'd be very nice.
Best,
Fritz Laux
Associate Professor of Economics
Northeastern State University
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Team Learning Discussion List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> On Behalf Of Molly Espey
> Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2008 8:43 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: optional TBL
>
> I'm wondering if anyone has ever given students the option of opting out
> of the TBL. In my experience, most of the students are quite drawn to it
> when first introduced, but those who do not like it can be real rotten
> eggs in their groups.
>
> I do the individual and team "RAT" over the syllabus on the first day to
> give them a TBL experience. On the second day of class (I typically teach
> MWF and the first week is WF), I do an extended group activity analyzing
> markets and market connections. I teach economics, so this activity
> recently has been centered around either oil or corn prices and how many
> other markets are impacted this. This is an activity the students can do
> without formal economics training. It isn't until the third class period
> that I give the first "real" RAT.
>
> So, I was thinking it would be interesting to allow students to opt out of
> the TBL but they would have to decide before that first real RAT. During
> the semester, when teams are working on things as teams, individuals can
> work on the same problems alone. But none of that would be graded for
> individuals. I really don't think very many students would opt out, but I
> may be setting myself up for trouble logistically. I thought it might be
> an interesting experiment as well, to see how many choose to opt out and
> how their performance and satisfaction compares to the others.
>
> Molly Espey, who can never leave well enough alone...
>
> Applied Economics and Statistics
> Clemson University
> Clemson, SC 29634
|
