Hi Erica,

Although I have no practical advice for you, I do "feel" what you are  
going through. It is the reason for my having attended the TBL  
conference in Austin, TX last week - to learn from those who have  
been working with and so satisfied with TBL and the results produced.  
Now I will work on some of the practical advice I received - pay  
closer attention to restricting the number of RATs I give, and  
improve the application activities I use in class. I have been  
teaching for over 30 years, but have been using TBL only this  
academic year. There is much to be learned, but the prospects are  
exciting.

I made the change because I wanted to have the students "doing," and  
"doing together," not just listening. TBL accomplishes that, and I am  
a firm believer that it works - just watch Larry Michaelsen and the  
fun he has in the classroom. What an inspiration!! As I have told my  
students, I am here not only to bring biology to life, but  to have  
fun in the process. It is is why I teach.

For most of my career I have been involved in the inquiry approach  
exemplified by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS)  
approach to teaching science. TBL is in many way an extension of that  
approach - hands-on, practical, with a focus on learning and the  
students - with the addition of an effective way to use groups.

As Gary Lynne said, "you are not alone." I am having some of the same  
difficulties in making TBL work the way I envision it, but with time  
and some "tweeks" I am confident that the use of TBL will prove to be  
a superior way to go.

Paul

Paul C. King, Instructor
Massasoit Community College
S 537
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(H) 781-784-2195




On Mar 7, 2009, at 2:06 PM, Erica Hunter wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I am hoping that you can help me with a problem. I have been using  
> TBL for
> three semesters in a couple different undergrad sociology courses  
> (Soc of
> Gender and Mass Media) with courses that are 120 enrollment and 25
> enrollment. For background, I am a grad student instructor and I've  
> been
> teaching for 3-4 years. I am interested in pedagogy and use TBL  
> because I
> feel it is a good format for helping students meet course goals  
> (working
> with readings, being accountable for their learning, application of  
> course
> concepts in class, etc).
>
> I am thinking about redesigning my fall courses (Intro Soc and  
> Families) to
> also be TLB but I feel stuck. My course evaluations are "in the  
> middle" but
> low for my department and I worry that there is something I'm  
> "doing wrong"
> with TBL. I've read the book and I went to a workshop that Larry  
> Michaelsen
> did on my campus. I talked to someone about this and she suggested  
> I post on
> here for some examples of how others lay out their classes.
>
> My questions and requests are:
> 1. For your units, how many do you have in the semester? What do  
> they "look"
> like? I do about 5 units in a 16 week semester. Starts with a RAT  
> (with
> IF-AT forms), RAT Review/discussion of the reading, Activity or  
> two, end
> unit. I spend time framing the current unit and the activities as a  
> part of
> the larger course issue (i.e. "This unit we are talking about  
> masculinity
> and femininity. Today's activity will get us thinking about the  
> relationship
> between the two"). Here, if you have a syllabus you would be  
> willing to
> share (any discipline) that would be awesome. I think it would help  
> me to
> "see" how others are successfully putting their courses together.
>
> 2. I would really like to see some sample ideas for activities that  
> work
> well. I generally follow the 4S of activity design but some fail. I  
> also
> feel like I do the same kind of things over and over. I would like  
> to get
> some ideas about different activities, esp ones that might involve  
> working
> with data, a film, or something other than a discussion question/ 
> scenario.
>
> 3. I feel like I have a hard time convincing my students about the  
> benefits
> of TBL. Half are on board and the other half make it hard. I'm  
> discouraged
> at times, my midterm evals had comments like "Stop the team stuff"  
> and "quit
> teaching" in them. I feel the norm in my department is heavy based on
> lecture and students are not expected to read (or at least are not  
> held
> accountable for reading). If you have any ideas for readings,  
> activities,
> etc that might help me out that would be great.
>
> Thanks in advance for any help you can offer,
> Erica
> Department of Sociology
> University at Albany