Hi Kathy,
I've been using TBL for about 8 years now and I can think of two difficult
situations, although I have to admit not quite as extreme as you describe.
In one case, a student complained that TBL was bringing her grade down.
She had no comment when I showed her that her grade was actually brought
up by the team component of her grade, in spite of not getting stellar
peer evaluations.
In the other case, the student was also my advisee and turned out to have
actual psychological issues and had been off of her medication for about
six months, so was really messed up relative to when she took her meds. I
asked her permission to address her teammates in her absence, just to say
that she had some personal problems and was having some difficulties she
was working through. She was happy for me to do that and her teammates
were more supportive of her when she returned the next class.
So don't feel like you are the problem at all! People have all kinds of
issues and problems they have to work through and we can't all be
psychologists or mind-readers. The fact that everyone else in the class
is enjoying TBL says a lot.
Molly Espey
Applied Economics and Statistics
Clemson University
Clemson, SC 29634
> Everyone,
>
> I thank you all so much for your thoughtful comments and insights. I am
> nervous though that all your seasoned veterans out there have never had a
> situation like this. Makes me think I should have been able to prevent
> this meltdown.
>
> This student has had a chip on her shoulder since the beginning of the
> semester. She complained that her team was not prepared, she claimed she
> was the only one of the 5 that did any work, etc, etc. (not at all the
> case from my observations) Unfortunately for her, I was aware from the
> start that her other team members tried and tried to talk to her, but she
> would not listen to them. She is chronically late to class, and has an
> attendance issue. (which I have spoken to her about many times) When she
> does show up, she expected everyone to suddenly pay attention to her and
> listen to her. The team members quickly did lose respect for her, which
> led to her attitude that she was the only one working, etc. We would have
> conver
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