Hi Ron-
In my experience, this type of comment comes from a member of a dysfunctional team or a group of students that never actually came together as a team. I believe it is important for instructors to try and gauge team functionality as the groups begin to form teams (generally in 5-7 weeks depending on the students and environment). If an instructor can gently intervene early with the team, say by specifically engaging the quiet students in an instructor-team discussion, it can help model the kind of dialog we would like to have within and from the teams. I have done this several times and it seems to work for me.
One way to help mitigate this poor team behavior is to have teams develop rules, expectations, guidelines, philosophy, etc. at the start of the class. If built by team consensus and reduced to writing, it helps guide the teams. We use that for our first semester teams and in addition to enjoying the exercise (as it helps build team cohesion) it reinforces good individual and team behavior.
Lane
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Lane J. Brunner, Ph.D., R.Ph.
Professor and Chair
Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences
California Northstate College of Pharmacy
10811 International Drive
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
Tel: (916) 503-1860
Email: [log in to unmask]
Office: Room 232
From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Carson, Ron
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 7:44 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Response to Student's Comment
At the end of last semester, I queried students regarding their TBL experience. I received the following comment and am curious as to what others think:
“The downfall of TBL is the team. There tend to be stronger and more advanced leaders in each group. These leaders tend to answer all the questions and leave little room for less qualified individuals to speak.”
Is this a valid comment? Have others had this type of feedback? What can be done to reduce this from happening in future TBL classes?
Thanks,
Ron
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Ron Carson MHS, OT
Assistant Professor
Adventist Univeristy of Health Sciences
671 Winyah Drive
Orlando, FL 32803
407.303.9182 (office)
407.303.7820 (fax)
