Ed,
In most of my teaching using TBL, I have not completely eliminated the lecture. But I have learned to use TBL as a way to sift through the large amount of information and refine my "mini-lectures" down to the 15 or 20 minutes of material that they really need to hear. I think that we'll all agree that in most lectures 80% of the material you cover is usually information that they are already familiar with. But using the TBL strategy as it was designed helps to identify the other 20% and, better yet, create the "teachable moment" where the students' curiosity has been piqued.
In my opinion, the best mini-lectures aren't the ones that simply dispense information, but instead, provide them with a few discrete bits of information followed by a challenge to think critically and apply the new information along with the concepts that they've mastered during the IRATs, GRATs, and TAAs to solve more difficult problems.
Robert Philpot, Ph.D., PA-C
SouthUniversity – Savannah | Chairman, Department of PA Studies
709 Mall Boulevard, Savannah, GA 31406
Phone: 912-201-8029 | Mobile: 912-704-5717
QEP: Critical Thinking Enhances Learning
-----Original Message-----
From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ed Bell
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 4:55 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Student complaints on new TBL
TBL Colleagues:
I coordinated a new course using TBL Spring 2009. This 3-credit course
(pharmacotherapeutics) is in the 2nd year of a 4-year professional pharmacy
program (115 students). Three faculty taught (separate 5 week modules). We
followed the TBL model very closely (ie, IRAT/GRAT, IF-AT forms, AE, peer
evaluations). I attended the TBL conference in March. Final course grades
overall were quite high. Student evaluations (8 pages total written
comments) post-course were "interesting" - most evaluations were negative
and included several themes:
1) students want more lecture - they want to be told what is important
2) students believe we as faculty - the "experts"- should be telling them
what is important about medications that they will need to know as a future
pharmacist - this is our "responsibility" as faculty/teachers
3) several students emphasized 2) above in light of our school being
private, with high tuition reasoning for responsibility of the faculty to
tell students "what's important"
4) some faculty this semester and due up next semester don't seem to fully
accept TBL vs. still desiring to lecture
How do we respond to these student - and faculty - concerns? I researched
the TBL list serve archives and found similar concerns from 2005 postings,
yet I am seeking additional recommendations and input from seasoned TBL faculty.
Thank you.
Ed Bell (Drake University College of Pharmacy)
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