I'm nervous about teams larger than 7 because it is REALLY hard for all of
the members to to develop into a real team. In part, it's simply due to the
fact that the number of potential connections between members goes up
exponentially (not linearly). In fact, unless the space they work in is
really flexible, I'm nervous about teams of seven. For example, in the room
I have to teach in, having teams of 7 means that 4 members have to sit on
the same side of a long table with the chairs attached to the table. That
means that the two on the ends often have difficulty hearing and the two in
the middle have to deliberately lean back to enable the folks on the end
see each others' facial expressions. That's not a good situation.

I hope this helps.

Larry

On Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 7:13 AM, Eli CollinsBrown <[log in to unmask]
> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Following up on the question of TBL team/group size, we are planning on
> groups of 8 and have based our increase in enrollment each year based on
> this number.  Most of you have said teams of 6 or 7.  Are there
> advantages/disadvantages to having teams of 8?
>
> Thanks,
> Eli
>
> --
> Eli Collins-Brown, EdD
> Faculty, Department of Medical Education
> Western Michigan University School of Medicine
> 301 John Street
> Kalamazoo, MI 49007-5295
> 269.387.9025 office
> 309.868.0301 mobile
> 269.387-9050 fax
> [log in to unmask]
>



-- 
*******************************
Larry K. Michaelsen, Professor of Management
Dockery 400G, University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO 64093
660/429-9873 voice/cell phone, 660/543-8465 fax
For info on:
Team-Based Learning (TBL) <www.teambasedlearning.org>
Integrative Business Experience (IBE) <http://faculty.ucmo.edu/ibe/home.html
>
*******************************