On Aug 30, 2010, at 10:38 AM, Levine, Ruth wrote: > The trouble with using methods like previous grades is that if the > students find out you did that they will always wonder (or worse-- > find out!!) who the "smart one" and who the "dumb one" in the team > is and that can be counterproductive to team cohesion in the long run. I tend to agree with Ruth. After all, isn't one of the virtues of TBL supposed to be that it prepares students for the teams they will inevitably find themselves to be a part of? We don't always get to choose our colleagues (or neighbors). So part of life is figuring out how to work well in the teams we find ourselves in, whether we chose them or not. Transparency is fine, but in the end, if team formation vs. function has more to do with their success, then the big life lesson of TBL may not have been learned or facilitated. Whether messy, random or structured, does team formation really matter that much? Hmm? Just my .02. John John Fritz Asst. VP, Instructional Technology & New Media UMBC Div. of Information Technology 410.455.6596 | [log in to unmask] | www.umbc.edu/oit/itnm