Dianne,

First, a question; then a thought to consider.

The question: How many units does your course have?
       Often people find that 4 to 7 is an optimum number of units for a semester-length term.

The thought: Instead of giving a multiple-choice exam at the end of each unit, what would you think about having a culminating project, done by the groups?
       A culminating project would be an activity that would call for students to use what they have studied during the past 2-3 weeks. Then, as you go from unit to unit, these projects can become more challenging and can integrate the topics of later units with the topics of earlier units.
       Or, if you want more individual accountability, what some people like, is to alternate: one unit with an individual test and the next unit have a group project. But even then, the individual test should have an significant application component as well as testing whether they "got" the content knowledge.

Some of these ideas come from my book on course design (Creating Significant Learning Experiences). One of the ideas in it is that a good course design has a good teaching strategy, and TBL is a superb teaching strategy. A second idea is that of educative assessment (which was created and named by Grant Wiggins).
      One of the central ideas of educative assessment is that of needing to use authentic or forwarding-looking assessment tasks. An authentic task is one the students can look at and say: "Wow, that is something that I might have to do with this knowledge after I leave college, and this task calls for me to use what I have learned about this subject."
      Multiple choice tests are useful for assessing whether students "got" the content knowledge; they are not as good as other procedures at replicating authentic tasks, e.g., decision making, problem solving, making choices, etc.
       So, putting these two ideas together, using a good strategy like TBL, which you are already doing, and then incorporating some powerful ideas about how to assess student learning at the end of each unit (borrowing from the concept of educative assessment), would make a powerful combination.

Good luck!    -Dee Fink

On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 4:49 AM, York, Dianne <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I teach an undergraduate human biology course for nonmajors, and I have used TBL for the past 3 semesters, starting Spring 2009. All has gone very well. I enjoy using TBL, the students enjoy it, attendance is better, etc. I can’t imagine going back to traditional lecturing.

My question concerns the testing process, both RATs and unit tests. I end each unit with a test, mainly multiple choice, to assess individual student learning. I do not give a mid-term and there is no cumulative final, just the last unit test at the end of the course. The first semester I tried TBL, there was a lot of grumbling over the back-to-back tests i.e., unit test on the material we’re finishing one day and then RATs on the new unit the following class period.

My solution has been to assign a few homework questions on the new unit. The assignment is worth minor points, but does give students some incentive to open the text. I collect homework at the beginning of the class, then lecture on some of the new material. We take the RATs on the second day of the new unit. Typically questions for the RAT are on a different chapter in the text book than the one I just lectured on. I’m really not happy with this work-around though because students are not prepared yet, of course, for any application activities, and I’m stuck lecturing on the first day of the new unit.

How does everyone else handle this situation? Do you typically give unit tests or only a mid-term and a final? Should I just ignore the grumbling and insist they prepare for and take the RATs the class after the unit test? Is there a better way to build in a day off from testing during the transition from one unit to the next?

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

Dianne York
Lecturer, Biology
Lincoln University, PA
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L. Dee Fink
234 Foreman Ave.
Norman, OK 73069
Phone/FAX: 405-364-6464
Email: [log in to unmask]
Website: www.finkconsulting.info

**National Project Director: Teaching & Curriculum Improvement (TCI) Project
**Senior Associate, Dee Fink & Associates Consulting Services
**Author of: Creating Significant Learning Experiences
**Former President of the POD Network in Higher Education (2004-2005)