Hi I have gathered a number of different perspectives on team examinations. Overarching themes: Overall, very positive results with both instructor and student see value Primary approach with individual examination followed by team examination (with a few exceptions, more later) Team examinations are either the same exam, and extended more difficult version of individual exam, or a specifically crafted team examination with no individual component ############################### Stories: I've been using team exams for longer than I've been using TBL (40+years for team exams/30+ years for TBL). They have always been focused on applications. (In fact, I've never taught a class in which I haven't given at least one team exam that used a full-length feature film or a novel as a "case".) In my judgment, a well-designed team exam and 4-S applications are nearly the same thing. The only significant difference is that I'll ask students to provide one or more bullet points to support their specific choice or I sometimes ask, "What are your number 1 #2 choices and what is the most compelling reason for rejecting your #2 choice. The key is making sure the form of the answer is simple (i.e., a specific choice supported by the key or the top FEW reasons/facts/pieces of evidence, etc.). Don't force the teams to produce an essay. If you do then their effort will go into wordsmithing instead of DECIDING. Larry _____________________________ I have used a team final exam after the individual exam is given both in an elective course of 30-40 students and in a required pharmacotherapy course with 125 students. It is always one thing that the students comment on in course evaluations how much they appreciate this final opportunity to work together as a team - kind of the grand finale! Cynthia ____________________________ I used team based exams in statistics. I had either 3 hour or 1 hr 15 min classes, and used them with both formats. I'm retired now, but I wouldn't do it any other way. I allowed about half a session for the individual exams, a break of 10-15 minutes, letting anyone leave the room when finished, most of the rest of the session for a team exam, then a few minutes to self-grade the team exam using an answer sheet that I handed out at the end of the team exam. I reserved the right to re-grade the team exam, but rarely made any changes. One major advantage was organizational. I finished the exam completely in one class session and students rarely had questions about it when I returned the graded exams at the next session. The other major advantage, completely unanticipated, was that the students left the room knowing how they had done. The teams had conveyed any bad news. The whole thing worked well. I spent more time preparing the exam, but grading was usually easier and went quite quickly. I could usually return exams at the next class session. My exams were rarely long, but I spent time making them more thoughtful. I did not require any arithmetic. This made my exams better in the long run, and quicker for students and for grading. I usually had short written answers. Best wishes, David __________________________________ I took a small shot at this last year in my electric circuits class. My midterms are worth 100 points. As a practice for one of them, I gave the teams last year's exam and gave each member of a given team up to 20 points. I thought it went well. Tim ############################# Info I gathered from Conversations In a phone conversation with Ruth Levine (thanks Ruth) UTMB, Wright State and Louisiana State University Health Science Center have been doing some team examinations with the National Board subject tests at end of 3rd year medical student psychiatry rotations. With the permission of the National Board they have the students sit for the individual psychiatry shelf exams then take a 30 minute break in a secure environment then retake the exam in their teams. Both scores count towards their overall course score. They have conducted research on the student perceptions and the overall value of this process (stay tuned for publication). Ruth shared with me one interesting stat – When asked something like “Is using the National Board team test in the grade appropriate?” – 70% said yes, 10% said no and 20% were neutral. Scores on team exams at UTMB hovered around 99%. UTMB weighted scores 30% team exam and 70% individual exam. _______________________________ Locally, I interviewed a faculty member that has swapped up the process with students sitting the team examination 2 days before the Individual. She is very careful about test security and basically nothing can be brought into examination room. She set a slightly more difficult team exam. She carefully marks the team exam and provides extensive feedback and marks the individual exam in a more cursory fashion. Following the first midterm cycle she carefully debriefs the exam and high lights teams that adopted good exam preparation and test taking strategies. Teams that studied together, then pulled the exam apart to work on sections as duo¹s then reconvened to achieve consensus answer were the most successful. A personal observation of instructor was that high cohesion teams consistently performed better. Midterms have this team component final is individual. Marks split 25% team and 75% individual. Jim