Dear Karla,
I'm trying to overcome this kind of problem by placing a lot of stress to
the students in terms of the process being as valuable (if not more so)
than the end result. We also struggle with the Friday afternoon placement,
but I want them to be able to see that getting points shouldn't be the only
motivator. By stressing what they're getting - critical thinking skills,
overview of relevant concepts (that are of course examinable), basic
communication and team interaction skills, etc., it seems to be possible to
move - at least some of them - past the "I'm not getting points therefore I
won't do it" type thinking.
In our Microbiology course, the TBL is a small, 5%, contribution to their
final grade. During the TBL sessions, the students first work-through a
case-based exercise, where they have to order virtual lab tests to help
with the diagnosis, followed by a second exercise. From the second exercise
they are required to submit material to the course management system - be
it a concept map, poster-mockup, table in MS Word, etc. I then review the
submitted material from the 56 teams and post the top five submitted items
for the class to see. The incentive of being identified as "the best" seems
to help with the motivational aspect. The class also identified "regular
attendance" as part of the peer evaluation which additionally helps. In a
class of 395 students, our attendance for the TBL sessions is probably
close to 100%.
Joanna
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J.C. Rayner, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Microbiology
Department of Microbiology,
School of Medicine,
St. George's University,
Grenada, West Indies.
Tel: (00) 1 473 444 4175 Ext. 2100
Fax: (00) 1 473 439 1845
Email: [log in to unmask]
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