Hi Derek, Scott, Gerry and TBL list members,
I am grateful for your insightful responses. I considered telling the
student that overhearing group work would not affect the grades much,
because the students decided (wisely) to set grade weights of
individual work at a very low percentage of their grade relative to
team work. However, we have had some recent honor board issues in
other courses at our College that are making folks fairly sensitive to
these sorts of topics lately. I decided to instead invoke the "5
minute rule" as suggested below. I'm pleased to report that it worked
really well. No one complained at the time or has since. I think
many were relieved because it did speed things up a bit, making more
time for discussion of the exercise. It is a very ingenious way of
automatically altering the time allowed to match the difficulty of
each assignment.
Thanks for your help,
Best wishes,
Holly
On Oct 11, 2004, at 10:23 AM, Derek R. Lane wrote:
Holly (and Scott) and other interested TBL Listerserve
members,
One way to resolve the issue of individuals hearing what the teams are
doing on Readiness Assessment Tests is to implement Michaelsen's "5
MINUTE
RULE." I do not allow the teams to begin working on their TRATS until
after ALL individuals are finished with the IRATs. The advice I
provide
below is contingent upon effectively written RATs (see pages 41-44;
218-221
in the 2004 Michaelsen, Knight & Fink TBL TBL textbook).
Basically, I allow everyone in the class five minutes more than the
slowest
individual on the fastest team to finish taking their individual (and
their
team) tests. Let me explain by way of example.
As students finish their individual tests, they place their individual
scantron forms inside a team folder. As soon as everyone on one team
has
finished their individual test and placed them in the group folder,
one of
the team members brings the folder to me. I then announce to the class
that the "5 MINUTE RULE IS IN EFFECT." Everyone now has 5 minutes to
complete their individual tests. This procedure prevents individuals to
benefit from overhearing teams talk about the TRATs--it also provides a
quiet and respectful atmosphere for students who require silence to
perform
effectively on quizzes.
I also use the 5 MINUTE RULE for the TRATs. As soon as the first team
is
finished with their TRATs I announce that the rest of the class has 5
minutes remaining to finish their TRAT. This prevents teams from
wasting
class time as they know that nothing else can be going on in the
classroom
while they are finishing their test.
When I was first exposed to Team-Based Learning as a graduate student
in
1993, I was amazed that students (both graduate and undergraduate) were
able to complete their IRATS within the allotted time. I have been
using
TBL primarily in communication courses with undergraduate students at
the
University of Kentucky since 1996. I've also used them with
statistics and
research methods courses. Students with learning disabilities are able
to
complete the IRATs in the time allotted without any problem. Though,
when
I have visually impaired students I have to provide a reader and
another
ajoining classroom (or office) so that the blind student can be given
the
IRAT orally. In many cases, the blind student finishes the IRAT well
before any of the other individual students.
The 5 MINUTE RULE should eliminate the problems associated with IRAT
honor
issues.
As far as feedback from individual IRATS:
I scan each of the individual IRATs as the teams are taking their
TRATs. When the first team finishes their TRAT, they bring either the
Team
scantron form (or, the completed IF-AT form) to me. I record the team
score on the board (for comparison purposes and for global feedback to
the
class) and place the IF-AT form (or Team scantron form) inside the team
folder which I return to the team. Individual team members then record
their individual scores, their team score, and (when appropriate) begin
writing appeals.
Hope this helps.
-Derek
At 10:10 AM 10/11/2004, you wrote:
Holly,
I have encountered this student concern as well. My reply has been
that
I am not overly concerned about this happening as the RATs aren't the
same as an exam. It is an opportunity to receive feedback on their
understanding of the material read. More learning of the material will
occur in the TRAT and associated learning activities. If a student is
unable to see the value of the feedback and wants to "get the answers"
elsewhere, they are only hurting themselves. They will not get the
feedback that is so helpful for later study.
The number of points available from the IRAT relative to the exams is
small enough that "cheating" for a point or two advantage on an IRAT
will not change their grade. It will harm their learning and therefore
their exam score.
My students seem satisfied with this answer.
Scott
Holly Bender wrote:
Hi Team based learning fans,
I am now in the thick of my first semester using team based learning,
and I am really thrilled with the results. I would appreciate some
advice from those of you with more experience than I with the following
question. I have a weekly exercise where my 17 teams of 6 students
first do an individual RAT and then repeat this exercise with a team
RAT. The students turn in their individual bubble sheets, and then as
their team members finish up, continue to take the same test as a team.
One student expressed concern during the exercise because she is an
honor board representative. She was concerned that individual members
might overhear a neighboring team's discussion and have an unfair
advantage--either on purpose or inadvertently. She was suggesting that
we have all teams wait to discuss their group answers until all
individuals have passed in their sheets. I wasn't crazy about this
idea because time is so tight. Have any of you encountered and
addressed this issue?
Thanks
Holly
Holly Bender, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVP
Director, Biomedical Informatics Research Group
Room 2254 Veterinary Medicine
Department of Veterinary Pathology
College of Veterinary Medicine
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011-1250
ph. 515-294-7947
fax 515-294-5423
[log in to unmask]
http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/faculty_staff/profiles/hbender.asp
http://www.birg.vetmed.iastate.edu/
--
Scott D. Zimmerman, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Biology
University of Wisconsin-Stout
410 10th Ave.
Menomonie, WI 54751
Ph: 715.232.1448
Fax: 715.232.2192
[log in to unmask]
Holly Bender, DVM, PhD, Diplomate ACVP
Director, Biomedical Informatics Research Group
Room 2254 Veterinary Medicine
Department of Veterinary Pathology
College of Veterinary Medicine
Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011-1250
ph. 515-294-7947
fax 515-294-5423
[log in to unmask]
http://www.vetmed.iastate.edu/faculty_staff/profiles/hbender.asp
http://www.birg.vetmed.iastate.edu/