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