MAILING LISTS

Hello Eddy, Bill, and everyone -
I use TBL in my large-enrollment (N=140 students) Introduction to Psychology
classes that typical enroll first- and second-year students. My students are
generally from poor, rural areas in New Mexico. About half of the student
population is of Hispanic descent and half are Anglo. I consider use of TBL
in Intro Psych successful in that student attendance has improved, student
attrition has decreased and student grades have improved since I switched to
TBL.

Over the years, I've found myself spending more and more class time
explicitly telling students why I use TBL and confronting their existing
models of teaching and learning.

In "selling" TBL at the beginning of the term, I make liberal reference to
the Hart Report 
(http://www.aacu.org/advocacy/leap/documents/re8097abcombined.pdf) that
clearly indicates employers value team skills. I attached the information I
use to sell TBL. None of it is specific to psychology so it might be helpful
to other TBL instructors.

I also explain that, despite all their previous experiences in formal
education, they do not have a flip-top head into which I can vomit
information (i.e., lecture). Although the usual cues that they are learning
(e.g., a notebook full of stuff, a feeling of boredom and/or outright pain
during class) may be absent, they are still learning. One of the reasons I
use TBL is because I want to give students the experience of learning while
having fun! 

Although I still encounter some resistance, I've noticed fewer comments
about "she didn't teach us anything" on my instructor evaluations since I
started giving these explanations.

Cheers,
lm

--
Laura Madson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Graduate Director
Department of Psychology
New Mexico State University
Box 30001/MSC 3452
Las Cruces, NM 88003
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(575) 646-2502