Colleagues,
To branch off on a bit of a tangent from Larry's comments.... this idea
about an "implicit agreement" is important, particularly as a selling point
for TBL.
Jonathan Finkelstein, in his book *"Learning in Real Time: Synchronous
Teaching & Learning Online" * (Wiley 2009), introduces a powerful idea, the
"Synchronous Compact." The idea is that if you want to have live
synchronous online class sessions, you as the instructor then are obligated
to make that time a meaningful learning experience. Following this
guideline, the student end of the bargain is to commit to attend and fully
participate in the live online sessions.
While Finkelstein is speaking in the context of live online hybrid
sessions, I think that this concept easily can and should be transferred to
the face to face teaching environment for every regular class session.
Students take time to be in the classroom and we then need to make that
meaningful learning experience.
TBL then becomes a great framework to ensure that emphasis on application
of material and making live class time a significant learning experience.
Best,
-Mike Welker
Mike Welker
Distance Learning Coordinator
& History/Humanities Adjunct Faculty
North Central State College
Mansfield, Ohio
(419) 755-4706 - Ofc.
(419) 545-0808 - After Hours Emergency Callback Svc. (Leave Msg.)
[log in to unmask]
Room 132 Bromfield Information Commons (Library)
Campus Mail: B-11
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"Remember, I'm pulling for you... we're all in this together. Keep your
stick on the ice." -Red Green
On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 6:57 PM, Larry Michaelsen <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
> Dear Renate,
>
> The answer to your question is not a simple one. If you want teams (and
> once you have them, you have a very real asset to help you in your attempts
> to promote learning), you have to do things in a way that will promote team
> development. You can choose how you form the groups and what you ask
> them to do but, you can't choose the outcome--that simply what happens as a
> natural consequence of your choices.
>
>
>
> If you follow ALL of the TBL prescriptions (see the course scorecard at <
> www.teambasedlearning.org>.), your groups will develop into teams pretty
> quickly and are very likely to be motivated to achieve the learning
> outcomes you set for them. If you decide against following all of the
> components of TBL (depending on which ones you decide to ignore) the
> process will be longer and, some groups will never become teams. Further,
> if you decide to only use some of the elements of TBL what you decide to
> leave out will make a big difference in the outcome. For example, if you
> decide to assign groups to create a lengthy document very few, if any, will
> ever become teams because the only thing they will really even partially
> together is to decide how to divide up the individual parts of the work.
>
>
>
> In my opinion, if you only want to do one aspect of TBL, the most
> beneficial and the only safe element would be to use "4-S" group
> assignments (Significant problem, Same problem for all groups, requiring
> groups to make a Specific choice that assesses students' ability to USE
> course concepts, Simultaneous reporting of groups' choices). Using "4-S"
> assignments is both very low risk and will produce positive outcomes in any
> setting in which you use groups.
>
>
>
> The most important factor in whether or not to use RATs is WHAT YOU DO
> WHEN YOU ARE NOT DOING THE RATS. I'd strongly caution AGAINST simply using
> a series of quizzes (even if you call them RATs, give them to teams as well
> a individuals and use IF-AT forms for the teams) if each one is followed by
> either lectures or another quiz. The most common reason that students
> get really angry at what the teacher thinks is TBL (but really isn't) is
> that he or she gives a whole lot of quizzes (that might even be called
> RATs) that follow one after another. In doing TBL, you are making sort
> of an implicit agreement with you students. You do your part (prepare
> for class) and I'll do mine (reward you by doing something meaningful in
> class that will promote deeper understanding of WHY the material is
> important or HOW it can be used to accomplish something worthwhile). If
> you don't deliver on your end, experience for students is studying for a
> quiz, only to be "rewarded" by more studying of terms that are only useful
> because they help with preparation for, yes, another quiz or a mid-term or
> final test all of which are over a whole bunch of meaningless terms.
>
> Ironically, giving too many individual & team quizzes with no applications
> (they wouldn’t be RATs unless you follow them with applications), is a
> really powerful way to build highly motivated teams. Unfortunately, it
> isn’t the kind of motivation you want. Instead of promoting learning, the
> teams are highly to find a way to stop the professor from giving, yes, more
> quizzes.
>
>
> I hope this helps.
>
>
>
> Larry
>
> On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 3:09 PM, Gebauer, Renate <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I am new to TBL but intrigued by the approach and I plan to adopt it in
>> one of my courses(upper level Ecosystems Ecology course) to start with.
>> However,for my lower level ecology course I was considering using the
>> IF-At scratch forms only as a way to hold students accountable for the
>> readings. So my questions are:
>>
>> Does anybody in the group have experiences with just using the forms
>> without switching the entire course over to TBL? Is it effective when
>> asking students to complete the forms outside the class and hand them in at
>> the beginning of the class? Any thoughts or recommendations would be
>> greatly appreciated.
>>
>> I was also wondering whether there are any ecologists that already use
>> the TBL approach? It would be great for me to get in touch and exchange
>> experiences. Please contact me at [log in to unmask]
>>
>> Finally I am right now on sabbatical in the NY city area and I was
>> wondering whether there are any TBL users nearby (in any discipline), which
>> would be willing to let me observe their classes. If so please let me know
>> at [log in to unmask]
>>
>> Thanks for your help and feedback
>>
>> Renate Gebauer
>> Environmental Studies
>> Keene State College
>> Keene, NH 03435
>>
>
>
>
> --
> *******************************
> Larry K. Michaelsen, Professor of Management
> Dockery 400G, University of Central Missouri
> Warrensburg, MO 64093
> 660/429-9873 voice/cell phone, 660/543-8465 fax
> For info on:
> Team-Based Learning (TBL) <www.teambasedlearning.org>
> Integrative Business Experience (IBE) <
> http://faculty.ucmo.edu/ibe/home.html>
> *******************************
>
>
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