Thank you Scott for this post!  Indeed, one of the many hard tasks for us instructors is to transform the focus of any unit of study (semester course in physio) to a set of objectives that really address the most important concepts.  It goes so far beyond the table of contents in a textbook, which so often predominates our and student thinking.  Once this is done, however, the linking up with TBL as the learning activity and assessment makes the most of your and the students time.  Dean





Dean Parmelee, M.D.

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

Boonshoft School of Medicine

Wright State University

Dayton, Ohio

http://www.med.wright.edu/aa/parmelee.html 

On Apr 17, 2012, at 9:04 AM, Zimmerman, Scott D wrote:

Nick,

We struggled with this same concern several years ago when implementing TBL into our Medical Physiology course.  We quickly discovered that 10-12 iRATs/tRATs were way too many; students just focused on the "quizzes"/points and not the learning.  We spent a great deal of time deciding on the 4-6 most important concepts we wanted the student to learn well.  We settled on 5 topics for full TBL treatment and a 6th that we did a mini module on.  8 years on, the course is going pretty well.

For an undergraduate course, it can be a big shift for the students and instructors to go away from the chapter model and focus on integrating ideas across chapters.

Scott
-- 
Scott D. Zimmerman, PhD
Associate Professor
CMB Graduate Program Coordinator
Biomedical Sciences Department
Missouri State University
417-836-6123


From: Nick Roster <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: Nick Roster <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:16:36 -0500
To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Anatomy and Phys TBL

Hello,

I have implemented TBL in my 2-semester Anatomy & Physiology class. I love it. However, I was wondering if anyone else has done the same. The issue I am running into is that my iRATS and gRATS are only over a chapter at a time. I can't seem to think outside the text on this one. Is it unwise to have so many (about 13) RATs a semester. I am using them to introduce the chapter material, then we launch into cases from there. Any thoughts?

Thanks

Nick

--
--
You can fill your head with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated.
--
Dr Nicholas O Roster
Science Department, Chair
Northwestern Michigan College
1701 E Front St
Traverse City, MI 49686

231-995-1278