Bernie, this is a very illuminating post. Thank you for taking the time to share your deep experience. Best, Anna Rubin On Apr 26, 2008, at 6:14 AM, bmillar wrote: > Dear Prof. Michaelsen > Thank you for your response to my list query. > > I wrote to you last year to say that I was reading your TBL book as > well as > Prof. Fink's book on designing a curriculum to create significant > learning > experiences. You sent a very kind reply to me. I ordered the books > through > Amazon. COM and it was a very happy day when they arrived three > months later > - I felt like Christmas had come early! > > Here I am several months later and am implementing a course > (Information > Literacy which has two modules - communications & academic skills > and basic > computer skills) that I designed using Prof. Fink's taxonomy > together with > Appreciative Inquiry as my change-agents. I think Prof. Fink's book is > ground-breaking (I consider myself his personal praise-singer [an > African > traditional poet who extols the excellence and the virtues of a > particular > person they have adopted. Normally this praise singer is dressed in > a few > skins and has a knobkierie and dances and ululates as he sings > praises, but > I have to forgo the outfit unfortunately as it would look extremely > strange > on me!]). I particularly like the holistic approach Fink adopts to > include > not only the cognitive elements, but the human, personal and caring > elements. Having decided on Fink's taxonomy for curriculum design, > I then > chose TBL as the mode of delivery I would use for this new course > because I > thought there would be a close fit between them. I particularly > like how TBL > takes student-centred learning to the MAX! I am TBL's personal > praise-singer > as well! > > I chose Appreciative Inquiry because of its positive approach to > problem-solving which I saw as a major move away from the deficit > model we > generally use in SA (One hears the following phrases very often: "our > students are academically illiterate, they can't read, they can't > write a > proper sentence, they come from bad educational backgrounds, they > can't > think, they can't..., they can't...". So, using AI I decided to > look at what > works, at what they CAN do, at what their strengths are and how we > can share > each others' strengths while not denying the problems that we > really do face > as HE teachers and that our students face. In this area, I came to > see that > epistemological access is one of the major problems facing > students. Using > New Literacy studies, particularly Lillis and Yballe and Lea's > work, I came > to a deeper understanding of the different discourses that my diverse > students bring to the classroom situation. I read Ausubel and Kolb > and Zull > to learn more about learning and have incorporated those insights > into my > course. > > All of this is working towards my participatory action research > Ph.D. in > education in which I hope to create and design an Appreciative > Pedagogy for > the South African Higher Education context - nothing small about my > dream > although they are still in their infant stage! > > My classes are very small this year - 27 students in one and 12 > students in > the other. (I am a part-time lecturer, so I only teach first year > and 4th > year students. The latter I teach research methodology and graduate > writing > skills and critical thinking.) > > I am afraid that I do not quite understand what you meant by your > question > "Are you (or could you be) pointing toward some sort of major > integrative > problem-solving assignment?" Could you please explain further? > > I have adapted your TBL a little to accommodate my students and our > circumstances. I get the students to mark the RATs by exchanging > papers in > their teams. We are not as technologically advanced as you are and > I had to > go on the Internet to find out what a scantron is and what clickers > are. > This solved my query about your suggestion in your book that teams > submit > their answers simultaneously. Also, I spent time on teaching how > teams work > and drew up a team contract(which is going to be reworked by the > students > themselves for next year's intake) that everyone has to sign and > also taught > the students how to resolve conflict in teams. The biggest change > is that I > see and use TBL as a vehicle for peer-teaching where the stronger > students > teach the weaker and have based this on our African philosophy of > "UBUNTU" > which says that "I am human only through the humanity of others" > which means > that one has to care for and help any other member of the community > who > needs or asks for help. I tell the students that each team is a > community of > co-learning, and that as a class we together are a community of co- > learners > as I too learn each day with my students. > > When I read your book, I thought that the one thing that would NOT > work > would be to get students to do their reading assignments at home. > Well, I > have been delighted to see that they do and that they prepare for > the RATS. > I think the whole readiness assurance process (RAP) is an excellent > concept > and helps particularly in the cases of those students who have > English as an > additional language and tend to read slowly. Also, I love the fact > that the > feedback is so immediate and I can instantly see where the students > are > having problems understanding concepts and deal with these problems > immediately. I think TBL is high-energy which really gets the students > going. Another great thing is the 3 levels of assessment which I > have found > prevents social loafing. > > Having said all this, I am still in the early stages and am finding > my feet > as I go along. I do regular evaluations with the students to get their > feedback on the TBL process and curriculum design I implemented. I > am a > reflective practitioner and respond to my students' comments > immediately. > > I have decided to change the composition of teams because I can see > how > certain students would benefit by being in different teams. This > should also > avoid any kind of apathy setting in. > > So, I beg your pardon for having written such a long posting, but > you can > see that I am really enthusiastic about TBL. > > Thank you to you, your team and Dr Fink for the wonderful > contribution you > are making to the lives and learning of a small group of students > and their > teacher in Africa. I hope that I can create a ripple effect in SA. > Regards > Bernie Millar >