MAILING LISTS

Hi

When you introduce TBL you could do a fishbowl role play demonstrating drawing out the quiet student

this is used in the PBL program at UBC Med first day....they demo both good and bad behaviours

You might also walk them thru the literature about teams outperforming the individual and suggest that excluding someone from the group will likely lead to a lower quality team performance....and suggest it is a life skill worth developing...especially in Law

If the problem is consistent and you run out of ideas....try talking chips....every group member gets 2 chips....toss a chip in every time you speak....can't talk without chips

The other possibility is in the public report call on a variety of students from the teams (including the quiet students)....if the quiet one is going to represent my team I might be more interested in engaging them in the conversation to get them ready



Jim Sibley
Centre for Instructional Support
Faculty of Applied Science
University of British Columbia
604-822-9241



-----Original Message-----
From: Team-Based Learning on behalf of Sophie Sparrow
Sent: Tue 01/27/2009 2:23 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: TBL - teammate conflicts and culture
 
Hi all,

I have been using TBL in some law school courses starting a year ago. In a few classes, the teams have not gelled. In several of these instances I've seen that some students of color and some ESL students seem to participate less than their teammates, and that their teammates' assessment of them at the end of the semester reflects the impression that those who participate less - speak less, volunteer less - receive lower evaluations from their peers.

Some students have told me that they have felt not listened to by the majority in the team. For example, if the majority of the team are native English speakers who rapidly analyze concepts verbally, they may lack the patience to wait while a non-native English speaker takes the time to formulate and state ideas.  Similarly, those whose cultural backgrounds incline them to be more reserved have been assumed by their peers to be disengaged, when in fact, they come from cultures where questioning others is considered disrespectful.  I think for other reasons, some students do not feel safe taking risks when they are in the minority. 

Suggestions about how to help teams work on these issues?

Thanks very much - 
Sophie

Sophie M. Sparrow
Professor of Law 
Franklin Pierce Law Center
2 White Street
Concord, NH 03301
603-513-5205
603.225-9647 FAX
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