I've been wanting to strengthen my active-learning activities in my sophomore literature classes, and the TBL approach provides a number of fine suggestions. I give frequent quizzes and have daily one-page assignments (called reaction papers) that I require students to complete, and I put them in groups during most class meetings to use their reaction papers to launch them into discussions of our reading in the literature courses I teach. However....... The purpose of these groups discussions isn't focused enough, I have found, and I don't have a really effective reporting out activity at the end.

I have read through the Michaelsen/Knight/Fink book on TBL, which is certainly stimulating, but I'm still wrestling with the issue of constructing group assignments that lead to productive reporting out discussions. Most of the courses that use TBL successfully appear to use case studies from a medical, legal, or business context.  Have any of you developed case studies, or something along those lines, for literature courses? Are there literature faculty out there who are having good  success with group discussions and then simultaneous reporting out?

Much thanks,
Charles Dameron


[cid:image001.jpg@01CBDCCD.CE5933F0]