My Japanese students seemed less willing to give honest evaluations (so are giving everyone equal scores) in their second course using TBL.  It's as if they fell into the attitude that they would just all help each other pass, even though there were a few students whom I witnessed that were totally uninvolved in team activities, arrived late, and got really low scores on their iRATs.  Some colleagues say I shouldn't be surprised since it is a common Japanese mentality to "help the team" even if that means some have to do all of the work.

Though a minority of students are still giving varied scores to teammates and writing good feedback, I'm beginning to feel that the most I can expect out of peer evaluations is to give me the right to say "Well, you had your chance!! It's not me who is passing the lazy ones!" 

Please help me to overcome my bad attitude. :'( I need advice from my team!

Thanks!

Christine Kuramoto
Kyushu University, Fukuoka Japan

Molly Espey wrote:
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I'm afraid there are some students for whom it doesn't matter what you do, they will remain disinterested.  For others, they are used to being able to do little in class and study the night before the exam and pass; maybe passing is all they are shooting for.  Still others think they can free ride on the efforts of the team.  For either of these latter two types of students, honest peer evaluations and mid-semester grade updates can shake them out of their misconception that they can pass with little or no in-class effort.  I've had several students turn it around when it becomes clear to them that they actually have to participate in team activities to get a decent grade for that portion of the class.  I also try to impress on everyone in the class how important it is to send that signal to their teammates that they are poor participants if they are.  The mid-semester evaluations (which I don't count toward the final grade) are the perfect time to send the signal, allowing students sufficient time to improve their performance.  Most improve, at least somewhat, in my experience. 
 
Molly Espey
Department of Applied Economics and Statistics
263 Barre Hall
Clemson University
Clemson, SC 29634
----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">Herb Coleman
To: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]">[log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, September 14, 2009 6:36 PM
Subject: How to handle disinterested students

Usually, I can tell when students are not going to make it because they
stop coming to class. I have a couple of students in an Intro to Psych
class taught on a Sunday afternoon, that seem totally disinterested.
They don't seem to give much in the way of discussion to the group and
only help with the mechanics, (writing up or entering the teams
answers). Their iRATs are abysmal. We are ending our first unit so this
will also be our first peer reviews so I hope these things will take
care of themselves. I also plan to directly address the offenders. I was
just wondering if anyone has dealt with this before?


--

Herb Coleman,Ph.D
Dir. Instructional Computing and Technology
Adjunct Professor of Psychology
Austin Community College
Highland Business Center
5930 Middle Fiskville Rd.
Austin, TX 78752
[log in to unmask]
512-223-7746
*************************************************
“I, and every other professor on this campus, are
here to help you to find, take back, and keep your
righteous mind.”

---Professor Melvin Tolson
    from the motion picture "The Great Debaters"
*************************************************

-- 
*******
Christine Kuramoto, Assistant Professor: Medical English
Kyushu University, Department of Medical Education
Faculty of Medical Sciences
3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582 Japan
Phone: (+81)92-642-6186 Fax: (+81)92-642-6188
E-mail: [log in to unmask]