Mike,
Just noticed you inquiry about using TBL with math classes.
When I was a faculty developer at Oklahoma, I worked with a math teach, trying to encourage her to consider using TBL. She too was reluctant, saying: "Math students don't read the text. They only reference it when they need help solving homework problems."
But we kept playing with the idea, and eventually came up with a creative adaptation of TBL that worked well with that subject.
The change was this:
She still gave the reading assignment, and indicated there would be a RAT, not preceded by a lecture or problem-solving demonstration.
But, during the first several minutes at the day of the RAT, she told the class that she would answer 1 question, any question, about anything students did not understand in the reading assignment. But she would only take the questions from the groups, and only 1 question per group.
Then they would take the RAT.
What she discovered was that this simple little twist on the TBL sequence had three remarkable effects.
First, it prompted students to start some good reflective thinking: "Hmm, let me see. What did I understand in the readings and what didn't I understand?"
Second, the groups quickly discovered that could pool their knowledge before deciding which questions to ask. One student would say, "I didn't understand "x"; maybe we should ask about that." But another would say, "We don't need to ask that. Here is what "x" is all about.
Third, they realized they should make a list of not just one question, but two or three questions. That way, if another group asked the question they had identified, they had another ready to go, thereby expanding what they could learn about.
In retrospect, these activities all seemed like very good habits for students to engage in on a recurring basis. And they all happened because of the idea of giving students, via their groups, the chance to have any question answered, before starting the RAT process.
And as students increasingly saw the benefit of having their questions answered, they started doing the readings so they would have questions to ask - and that was the goal in the first place.
In a word, they began taking greater responsibility for their own and each other's learning.
An idea to consider.
Dee Fink