Dear Sandy
Nice to hear from you. As I’m sure you know, a number of our faculty have experience of TBL at Duke-NUS, but this is the first time I have heard the details of your assessment system, which is very helpful.
And the Listserv is a great way of hearing about the range of approaches to TBL. So far the response has been universally in favour of using TBL scores summatively although I was interested in Paul Koles’ comment
about not using the application exercise scores in this way.
Thanks again, and look forward to meeting you at some point!
Naomi
From: Sandy Cook [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 14 April 2012 04:35
To: Low-Beer, Naomi; [log in to unmask]
Subject: RE: TBL grades - formative vs summative
I would be happy to discuss how our TBL works any time (in Singapore) – as we are neighbors. But for the purpose of the listserv – your question is an important one.
I would recommend that you NOT use the TBL elements only formatively. It clearly does give you routine information, but students in general, and Singaporean students in particular will not take
something serious if it is not graded. And then the whole process falls apart. If the IRAT is not a part of the grade, there is little incentive for them to all come prepared. If they all don’t come prepared, there is less learning that can take place at
the team level and if not graded, less incentive or worry about getting the GRAT scores high. It is common that some folks don’t grade the applications, but if students are not prepared (by not doing well on RAT portion) they might not be in the best position
AS A TEAM to solve the application. There may be one or two in team – but then they do all the work, which is what TBL is meant to minimize.
In addition, there are many different weights that people give to the TBL elements – and I’m not certain that the actual % is as important then the fact that it counts. We chose (rightly or wrongly)
to base 50% of the grade on individual elements and 50% on team. In some of our blocks that means the IRAs are the only individual element – and their individual weight/proportion is 50/# RATs. In some courses; however, we also have summative exams at the
end. And they combined with the RATs make up the 50% of the grade.
The team component is made up of the GRAT, Application, and Peer assessment. We valued the team component so by having it count as well – we have expressed our schools values to both individual
and team elements.
Anecdotally, I can tell you that during our first year, our students did complain a great deal about the number of tests that counted. But we stuck to our principles. At the beginning of the year,
I asked them, what would they do differently if these tests did not count towards their grade – and their response was that they would not have studied as hard. (not a very compelling argument). At the end of the year, I asked them again, if they thought
we should not count the TBL elements and their answer was a resounding NO. They came to appreciate that not only did the frequent testing (that counted) help (motivated, forced…) them to keep up with a huge volume of material, kept them engaged, and ultimately
learned more than they had ever imagined. We now do not have any discussions about the grading of TBL components – as they have learned from their seniors that it is worth the effort and to trust the process.
We also use the TBL performance formatively to identify students at risk. Those who are consistently falling below the target score and their peers are those who we explore what might be happening
(personal issues, test taking challenges, etc). This allows us to intervene if necessary. If the RATs were not counted, I would fear that we would miss identify individuals at risk.
I hope this helps.
Sandy Cook, PhD,
Assoc. Prof.
Senior Associate Dean
Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore
W: (65) 6516 8722
Administrative Executive: Belinda Yeo | [log in to unmask]
| 6516-8511
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From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
On Behalf Of Low-Beer, Naomi
Sent: Saturday, April 14, 2012 1:59 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: TBL grades - formative vs summative
Our planned medical curriculum has summative assessment at the end of each of the first 2 academic years. TBL will be used as the principle educational method. Is it reasonable for the TBL grades to be used only formatively, or is there
value to these grades contributing to the summative end of year exams? Our current plan is to use TBL grades formatively and to track progress so that students in difficulty can be identified early. Entry to sit the end of year exams will be conditional on
satisfactory TBL grades.
Naomi
Dr Naomi Low-Beer MD MRCOG MEd
Locum Consultant Gynaecologist
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
369 Fulham Road
London SW10 9NH
and
Curriculum Development Lead
The London Office of the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
Level 12 Electrical and Electronic Engineering Building
South Kensington Campus
London
SW7 2AZ
