Kevin, I have a couple of concerns with your plan--especially if your "one aspect" is giving a Readiness Assurance Test. First, almost without exception, students will complain about their first experience with having to take responsibility for doing ANYTHING but coming to class and listening to someone lecture. Second, if it doesn't count, only a small percentage will put in enough effort to handle questions that are difficult enough to elicit meaningful discussions during the team RAT. Given that combination, you'll get all of the negatives and few if any positives and the "doubters" on your faculty will see what they will interpret as evidence that TBL doesn't work with your students (or that particular discipline--or something else) when the real problem is that you haven't really applied TBL. I'm not a doctor but, I think an appropriate metaphor would be a patient taking an antibiotic for only the one day when it's prescribed for a week and concluding that the doctor (or the drug) didn't do their/its job. If you are going to "dabble", the only safe way is to design a really good 4-S application and give it as an enrichment to whatever you are doing now. Larry On Sat, Apr 14, 2012 at 12:18 PM, Kevin McConville < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Naomi, > > We are introducing the TBL into one aspect of the Dundee curriculum and > will monitor the process in the first year. > > We plan to use the TBL scores formatively in the first instance but will > use the questions ( or similar versions of them) in the students online > examination which forms part of their yearly examination process so that > they recognise the concepts / questions and ensure that the "assessment > drives learning" process is not overlooked. > > > > Dr Kevin McConville > > Clinical Teacher & Clinical Research Fellow > > Division of Clinical & Population Sciences & Education > > Undergraduate Dept. of Tayside Centre for General Practice (uTCGP) > > College of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing > > University of Dundee > > MacKenzie Building > > Kirsty Semple Way > > Dundee > > DD2 4BF > > > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Team-Based Learning [[log in to unmask]] on behalf > of Sandy Cook [[log in to unmask]] > *Sent:* Saturday, April 14, 2012 4:35 AM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: TBL grades - formative vs summative > > Dear Naomi, > > > > 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 > > Important: This email is confidential and may be privileged. If you are > not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify us immediately; you > should not copy or use it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any > other person. Thank you. > > > > > > > *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 > > [image: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: > cid:image001.jpg@01CBEDEF.FEF5A830] > > [image: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: > cid:image002.png@01CBEDEF.FEF5A830] > > > > > > The University of Dundee is a registered Scottish Charity, No: SC015096 > -- ******************************* 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 > *******************************