We have a Team-Based Learning Special Interest Group
(TBL-SIG) on our campus for faculty using or interested in using TBL. A
question came up in a recent meeting that I would like to bring to this group
for responses.
A faculty member who uses TBL in one course would like to
expand to using it in another course but has a concern over a possible issues
with team formation and cohesiveness. About 60% of the students who enter that
course are from one academic program while the rest come from a variety of
programs. The chance is very high that the students who are in the same program
know each other by that time. The concern is whether TBL advantages would be appreciably
reduced because students from that program could easily form sub-groups or
cliques within a team, and it could impact team cohesiveness. Diverse teams
would certainly include multiple students from this group placed in each team.
Has anyone had a similar experience and words of wisdom
about how to form and develop group cohesiveness under this predictable
condition?
Thanks so much!
Kathy
Kathy Ross, Ph.D.
Director, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
Indiana University Kokomo
2300 South Washington KO-083A
P. O. Box 9003
Kokomo, IN 46904-9003
765-455-9392