Greetings
all,
I am
using TBL for the first time this fall (having been highly motivated by a
wonderful presentation this summer at the Institute for Law Teaching and
Learning). In each of my Criminal Law classes (78-80 students in each class),
we set up teams on the first day; the teams consisted of 5-6 people. I now
have a student who has left school. He was in a 5-person team, leaving that
team with only 4 people. We are half-way through the fourth week of class, and
we have 10 ˝ weeks to go.
Would it
be better for me to move a person from a 6-person team to make the smaller one
have 5 people, or would it be better to leave the 4 person team as is? I am
certain someone from a 6-person team would be willing to move. Also, the team that
is now short a person has a “problem student” on the team, and I
worry that the other three don’t have strong enough personalities to
handle him. Perhaps bringing in a new person would help shift that dynamic?
On the other hand, I don’t want to hurt any dynamics already created.
Any
input would be appreciated.
Best
regards,
Jana
PS By
the way, we did our first iRAT and tRAT yesterday and today. And as expected,
of course, the teams far outperformed the individuals. It was wonderfully
exciting to walk around the room and listen as the teams discussed the quiz and
really worked together to learn and understand the material.
Jana
R. McCreary
Assistant
Professor of Law
Florida
Coastal School of Law
8787 Baypine Road
Jacksonville, Florida 32256
(904)
256-1222
(904)
680-7771 (fax)
P Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail.