I have been using TBL in my Adolescent and Infant Development classes this summer. One of the primary complaints I had was that the students felt little impetus to come to class after taking the RATs, as they felt I had already tested their knowledge and even though the next few classes were spent doing applications, they didn't "get it." The common complaint was that the RATs were too difficult and asked for application instead of "knowledge" and they felt that the rest of the time they were "just teaching ourselves" and it was the blind leading the blind. I did lecture a bit AFTER the RATs, priming them for the activities... They wanted their tests to be more rote learning, I guess. They wanted to be able to prove that they knew the material, but instead seemed to feel frustrated that no matter how well they thought they knew it, they did poorly. I reassured them that low grades were typical on iRats - and they did do much better with their teams, but their level of anger and frustration at me and the TBL format was palpable. Should I be giving them some individual low-stakes knowledge quizzes before the RATs so they can feel like they know the stuff before they have to apply it? It made me question my tests. They DID have study guides.

These were summer courses, which meant a fair amount of density, by definition. I generally tested 2 chapters per RAT = perhaps I should have given one RAT per chapter - 2 RATs per week?... They really hated being tested before I lectured - and I really tried not to lecture very much...though I found myself falling back onto past pre-TBL lectures, which basically reiterated the reading - but since they were after the students had read I think they felt it was redundant.

Change is hard, I know, and I kept reassuring them that it was harder for me to NOT lecture and to come up with viable activities...but this particular group seemed especially testy. Might have just been the participants...

Thoughts anyone? - especially about the lack of impetus to come to class AFTER being tested.

Thanks,

Judi Bradetich