Aloha,

I utilize a variety of assessments in my team based learning classrooms. They include open notes quizzes at the beginning of each class that are based on discussion/review questions of the topical areas that I deem are most critical from the readings.  I also administer two exams, which are based on a case study given to the students one week prior to the exam date and relate directly to the activities that we've performed in class.  The students also complete a community based project that is designed to provide a practical application for the skills that they should have learned in class.

In response to your inquiry, I start by redefining our roles in the learning process.  I inform them that I am the facilitator of the learning process, while I expect them to be active participants.  This includes being ready for class (having completed the readings and taken notes based on the discussion/review questions) and consequently the quizzes at the beginning of class (which I call comprehension checks, as they are designed to evaluate the students readiness to participate in the day's activities).  We then review the correct answers to the five multiple choice questions (this is often my 'lecture' for the day) before moving on to the day's activity.  I emphasize to the students that the comprehension checks are intended to do the following:
1) Prepare them for the day's class.  If they don't, they'll be useless to the group.
2) Get them to class and in their seat on time.  I generally arrive 10 minutes before class begins and leave the comprehension checks on my desk.  Students have until 5 minutes after the start of class time to complete the comprehension checks, at which time we start the review of the questions.
3) Reward students for studying.  I make my comprehension checks challenging.  They are generally application oriented.  It is necessary for students to not only take thorough notes, but also understand the concepts well enough to apply them.  Key to their success is making them open notes as well. Otherwise you'll find students just flipping through their textbook prior to class.

In explaining assessments, I tell the students that there is a building block approach to the learning process.  The discussion/questions and note taking are designed to focus them and prepare them to participate in class.  They then need to actively participate in activities during class time and take notes to better understand the application of principles discussed in their readings.  The exams are then composed of questions (open ended response focused on application) designed to assess how well that they have learned the activities that we've done in class.  However, this time they don't have an entire class period to complete one activity, they have about 20 minutes for each activity as I generally provide them with 3 multipart questions.  Therefore, they need to prepare for the exam by applying all of the activities we've done in class (I usually point out the key activities to them prior to the exam) to the case study that they've been provided with.  I also emphasize that since they've prepared well with note taking, there should be no reason to look at their book.

As for the group based project, students display their results in a trade show format to industry judges.  The students are visited for approximately 20 minutes by three teams of judges.

Note that each form of assessment builds on the previous, with the quizzes being way back in the rear view mirror.  I think it is also critical that you keep multiple choice questions off the exams if using them for the quizzes, as students will be likely to review quizzes thinking that it will adequately prepare them for exams. I hope this helps.

Cheers, Tom

Tom DeWitt Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Marketing
College of Business and Economics
University of Hawaii - Hilo
200 W. Kawili St.
Hilo, HI  96720

Phone:  (808) 974-7384




----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Renock-Welker <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, May 14, 2009 7:18
Subject: Re: RAT versus Midterm Exam expectations
To: [log in to unmask]

> Michael,
I had a mini "break thru" the other night on this point with my class when addressing their feedback from mid quarter two minute evals. One of the items that came back in their feedback was "teach the material before giving us the tests." We had a good discussion on this point the next class where I emphasized that the RAQs (Quizzes instead of rodents ;]) are NOT an a traditonal 'end in themselves' but rather a guidepost for each of them, their team-mates and myself to focus and direct our group and individual studies for the rest of that unit. To this end, I am putting up a powerpoint slide of anonymous aggregate data on the preceding RAQ to illustrate why we will be focusing on particular areas during the rest of a unit. I will revising my syllabi and 1st day handouts to emphasize this more strongly as well for next quarter. Maybe doing something similar with your group may help distinguish the RAQ function versus the more summative assessments?
>
> -Mike Welker,
> History Adjunct Instructor 
> & DL Dept. Instructional Designer
> North Central State College
> Mansfield, Ohio
> 419.755.4706
[log in to unmask])" target="1" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 51);">> [log in to unmask] 
>
> "Remember, I'm pulling for you... we're all in this together. Keep your stick on the ice." -Red Green
>
>
>
> On Thu, May 14, 2009 at 10:06 AM, Nelson, Michael H <[log in to unmask])" target="1">[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> At Regis University School of Pharmacy we are developing our curriculum around TBL. In addition to traditional TBL units, most of our courses will have at least one midterm exam and one final exam.

>  

> Our expectations for RAT performance versus midterm/final exam performance are somewhat different, and we are wrestling with how to best communicate this to the students in advance. We will expect RAT performance to reflect a reasonable amount of reading and comprehension of material prior to class, but the midterm/final exams would increase in expectation to application of material (i.e., testing them over what they worked on as a team in class).

>  

> What ideas are there in the TBL world about this? We’ve discussed several options, including 1) two sets of learning objectives (RAT-specific objectives and exam-specific objectives) or 2) developing a narrative to be included in the pre-class material that explains how to prepare for the RAT in addition to traditional midterm/final exam learning objectives.

>  

> Thanks in advance for any help you may have.

>  

> Michael Nelson, PhD, RPh

> Chair and Associate Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences

> Regis University School of Pharmacy

> 303-625-1265 (phone) 303-964-5533 (fax)

>  

>