For those concerned about promotion/tenure review, I would recommend making grading a little more lenient while switching. Nothing makes students happier than good grades. I did this last year and got perfectly lovely student evaluations despite it being my first try with TBL. I have tenure, so it doesn't matter so much, but I didn't want a revolt. -Melissa On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 4:39 PM, Paul C. King <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > 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 > > >