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 [log in to unmask] (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