Jennifer, To encourage reading and note taking skills I provide students with discussion questions in advance and allow them to use their notes during RATs. Therefore, I never write questions that simply duplicate content from the book. I also consider the discussions that I want to create for the group RATS when formulating questions. I want and encourage students to discuss and justify the responses that they've recorded. Therefore, the questions I write are generally examples or application orientated. I want them to discuss and justify why a certain example fits a definition or why an application of a concept is correct or not. I also review all of the questions with the class after they've finished the group RAT. It's much more meaningful when you can discuss a scenario or example and why it conforms to a certain topic you want them to understand, rather than just putting a definition in the question. 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: Jennifer Imazeki <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 16:06 Subject: how basic should RATs be? (was MC vs open-ended applications?) To: [log in to unmask] > Thanks Sandy - I do plan to have the RATs all as multiple-choice and > my question was really about applications. But you raise another point > that I've been wondering about as well and that is about discussion > after RATs. As you point out, the RATs need to have one 'right' answer > and my understanding is that they should be relatively basic - since > the RATs are covering material that we won't have discussed yet in > class, it seems like I shouldn't expect students to be able DO much > with the material yet and instead just test definitions and check > student understanding of whatever readings they were supposed to do > beforehand. But I've also seen statements from people about not making > the RATs 'too easy'. So I guess I'm a bit confused about what > level to > aim for with the RATs and how much I should expect the post-RAT, > pre-applications discussion to be real discussion versus me > 'lecturing' to clarify misunderstandings about the basic > concepts. Am > I understanding the role of the RATs correctly? > > thanks, > Jennifer > > On Tue, Jul 13, 2010 at 6:31 PM, Sandy Cook <sandy.cook@duke- > nus.edu.sg> wrote: > > Perhaps I'm missing something, but in the original query - I > think there might have been a bit of confusion between > application vs IRAT-GRATS. Just wanted to make sure some of > those distinctions were clear to people. > > > > If you are using the IF-AT for the GRATs= then they have to be > MCQ questions. Not necessarily with only one right answer, but > certainly with one best/better answer. Now the learning that > comes from the discussions are rich when you follow up with many > of the suggestions and certainly a team appeal can argue their > way into more points for an alternative position on the right answer. > > > > For applications however, they don't have to be MCQ and there > are lots of strategies people have used from diagrams, short > answer, etc. Good to have some in MCQ format - and sometimes > with close answers - from which students much choose, debate, > and provide explanation - for as someone mentioned - at some > point you have to make a choice. > > > > One way that we have used to permit short answers, but allow > for simultaneous reporting (without people seeing everyone's > answers) is to write them on small pieces of paper (limits > response too) and paste on a single sheet (but we only have 8 > teams - might need 2 pages if more teams) and project answers on > a visualize. That way all 8 team's responses are shown at same > time, but you don't have to write them on paper or white boards > for everyone to see. > > > > Sandy > > > > ******************************************************** > > Sandy COOK, PhD | Senior Associate Dean, Curriculum > Development | > > Medical Education, Research, and Evaluation (MERE) | > > Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School Singapore | Khoo Teck Puat > Building | 8 College Road Singapore |169857 | > > W: (65) 6516 8722| F: (65) 6227 2698 | > > email: [log in to unmask] | web: http://www.duke- > nus.edu.sg;> > > Administrative Executive: Belinda Yeo | belinda.yeo@duke- > nus.edu.sg | 6516-8511 > > > > Important: This email is confidential and may be > privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please > delete it and notify us immediately; you should not copy or use > it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other > person. Thank you. > > > > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:TEAMLEARNING- > [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Sweet, Michael S > > Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 11:21 PM > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Subject: Re: MC vs open-ended applications? > > > >>then I will ask for the voices of the "minority opinions." I > am rarely disappointed. . . > >> > > > > Much of being a good TBL facilitator is being able to > playfully "pick fights" between teams. > > > > Ruth is a natural. ;-) > > > > -M > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:TEAMLEARNING- > [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Levine, Ruth > > Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 10:16 AM > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Subject: Re: MC vs open-ended applications? > > > > Even when all of the teams choose one answer, there is almost > always a "minority opinion" within each team where one or more > of the students liked an alternative choice. What I like to do > when everyone picks the same answer is I will ask one or more of > the teams to justify the choice, then I will ask for the voices > of the "minority opinions." I am rarely disappointed--the > students who argued and "lost" in their teams are frequently > happy to be able to justify their choices to the larger group. > Sometimes, students will ALL pick the wrong answer--these are > some of my favorite scenarios--and a rare student will then have > the chance to describe why they alone chose the correct answer. > > > > I will also ask the students to justify their decision to > avoid the options that they did not choose. Many times I will > ask them to go through every option. They cannot get away with > just picking one choice and then go on. > > Ruth > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:TEAMLEARNING- > [log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jennifer Imazeki > > Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 9:59 AM > > To: [log in to unmask] > > Subject: MC vs open-ended applications? > > > > Hi all, > > > > I will be trying TBL for the first time in the fall and am working > > through lots of issues. One has to do with the structure, and > > reporting, of the team application exercises. My students will be > > using clickers for the IRATs (though probably the IF-AT forms > for the > > GRATs), and I was planning to start many of the team exercises > with an > > individual clicker question, to get students thinking about > the issue > > on their own before turning to the group. But I'm a little worried > > about having all the team exercises set up as multiple-choice > > questions because I wonder how that will impact the ensuing > > discussion. For example, I can imagine a scenario where the majority > > of teams selects one of the responses; even if a team that > chooses a > > different response has a good reason for selecting that, the other > > students may just think they are 'right' because they are with the > > majority, and not really engage in the discussion. Of course, with > > many of the applications, there is not necessarily a right > answer so > > the key will be in their reasoning but still, I wonder if having > > multiple-choice options will create an 'illusion' in students' minds > > that there are right and wrong responses. I've thought about giving > > them whiteboards instead and having them write a short > response but > > then I'm worried that, given the size of the room (70 > students), not > > everyone will be able to see what everyone else has written. > > > > Any thoughts, experiences, advice? > > > > Jennifer > > **************************** > > Jennifer Imazeki > > Department of Economics > > San Diego State University > > homepage: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~jimazeki/ > > Economics for Teachers blog: > http://economicsforteachers.blogspot.com>