At the end of each semester, I offer my students a bonus journal.  This year some interesting themes came up that might spark some discussion.  The list isn't too long. Let me know what you think.

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Excerpts from end of the semester student journals:

Their prompt was “Looking back over the semester, what stands out most in your mind about course? When you mention to people this summer that you took a course in human development what will you tell them? Also feel free to comment on the Team Based Learning experience.”          

“…I thought the Team Based Learning experience was useful because it gave everyone an automatic support group to reach out to for homework help and questions. I work for a dental office and the environment is partly team based where everyone is supposed to work together and take responsibility to make everything runs the way it is supposed to…TBL has its ups and down as does everything when you work in a group of people but overall it was a great experience that helped me with my communication skills and my team work skills.”

“… and share about the Team Based Learning and how I loved the experience in working with a team.  I am not an "A" student and I could not have made the grades I have without the teams help.  I wish all classes were like this one…”

“The team base learning was okay for some but, I would much rather have a lectured class.  Sometimes students participate more than others and it’s very time consuming to have to evaluate others in addition to doing your work for the class… It was a good learning experience.”

“I thought the team based decisions was an excellent way to learn.  I felt like when I had a question or was confused about something, I could always rely on my classmates rather than asking the professor.  Working together as a group is an excellent way of learning.  We can all share ideas and sources that we researched.”

“To be truly honest, I was frustrated with the Team Based Learning process.  I know you have all these great statistics and it teaches us how to work together and I’m sure that’s true, but what is missing is class.  I felt disappointed because I signed up for a lecture class and we were never lectured. I felt like we were teaching ourselves before the fact and each other after the fact. We had to teach group members how to do research, etc.  I really feel like you are the one who is getting paid to perform those functions, whether or not it’s a valid point that we know those skills in life.  I had some pretty serious issues with the way we went about evaluating one another’s performance in the group…”

“I will tell people about the clickers and how well the group setting worked out for me.  At first I was a little iffy about the groups but, in the end I believe it really benefited me… “

“Regarding the team based learning; I would say that I had a pleasant experience. It is said that two heads are better than one; with the team work done during the TRATs and the Team Decisions, I would say that saying is true.  From my experience, a team is somewhat like a family.  When one member goes down, the whole family is affected one way or the other.  Whatever each member does should be done knowing full well that whether it is good or bad, it will affect all the members, the individual in question included…the course was quite informative and the team work very inspiring.”  --international student

“Team based learning wasn’t my absolute favorite but it was a good format; it builds character.  In real life, you don’t get to pick the people you work with and at the same time you have to work together. Anyone who didn’t learn at least one thing about themselves—I’ll just say, then they must not be paying attention…”

“I think what stands out most in my mind about the course is all the group work we did.  I thought it was great but on the other hand, I didn’t know anyone else in class.  I know it is only one class but I didn’t have much interaction with the other side of the room.  Maybe it’s a good thing or maybe it’s a bad thing.  I'll never know...”

“When I found out I would have to work with people in a group, I was extremely nervous.  I was nervous about having to be in front of the class debating our team decision.  Another thing that made me nervous was taking a test every class meeting. I now feel better about being put in these situations.  I enjoyed the team based learning experience. It helped me to look at things in different ways.  My team showed me different ways of studying.  This is the first class where I felt I had control over my final grade…I feel I was provided with knowledge I can use in life.  This course has prepared me for situations to come and has helped understand things that have happened…”

Herb Coleman, Ph.D
Dir. Instructional Computing and Technology
Adjunct Professor of Psychology 
Austin Community College
Highland Business Center

5930 Middle Fiskville Rd.
Austin, TX 78752
[log in to unmask]
512-223-7746
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Don't Think Small


"Arthur: It would have to be a 747.
Cobb: Why is that?
Arthur: Because on a 747 the pilot is up top, and the first 
class cabin is in the nose, so no one would walk through. But you'd have
to buy out the entire cabin. And the first class flight attendant.

Saito: I bought the airline.....It seemed neater."

From the motion picture Inception
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAm_Cp3OKik

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