Mike,

This is such an important question that I decided to add my 2 cents. Giving
too many RATs is the single most common mistake made by faculty who are new
TBL. In addition, it’s one of the most painful mistakes as well. That’s
because it is the surest way to create student anger about having to “do
all the work”.
There are two principles involved in deciding how many RATs to give:
1. TBL is NOT about covering content. From a student standpoint, the
overall “feel” of the class MUST BE that the class is about learning to DO
something as opposed to simply covering content so that they can pass a
test. With TBL, you are making an implicit bargain with students that, “If
you will do the pre-class preparation, I’ll make sure that you are rewarded
by having the opportunity to see why the ideas are important to you.” If
you give too many RATs, students will feel like their “reward” for studying
on their own is being required to memorize what they are likely to see as
more and more meaningless facts—and they won’t like it. [note: the real
payoff in the form of opportunities to practice using the content on
well-designed (i.e., “4-S”) assignments.]
2. You don’t have to ask question about everything. This is a case where
less is actually more. Just like lectures that are really dense, RATs that
focus on details actually result I less learning because they reward
memorization rather than understanding. The RAT should questions focus on
developing students’ understanding of the “big ideas”. Overall, that means
that you want to ask questions that assure that students understand the
“structure” of the knowledge so that, during the applications (which should
always be open-book), they will be able to use their materials efficiently.
I strongly recommend giving a minimum number of RATs that emphasize really
understanding the BIG ideas in a larger block of material.  For example, I
recommend asking questions about things that are in the table of contents
but, avoiding questions about things that only appear in the index.  (They
can, and will, add—and actually remember—the details as they are working on
open-book applications.) Further, since the applications are open-book,
neither you nor your students will have to worry about forgetting what was
covered in the RATs.

Larry

On Wed, Dec 26, 2012 at 12:12 PM, Michael Kramer <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Frank and Jim,
>
> That was precisely what I needed. Thanks for taking the time to help me
> out.
>
> I am currently leaning in the following direction:
>
> 1. Eliminate the online reading quiz.
> 2. Start most classes with an iRAT, followed by a tRAT.
>
> Since my class begins at 9:00 am Saturday morning, tardiness is an ongoing
> problem. I often begin assignments soon after 9:00 am, but if I were to
> have
> weekly iRATs, students would know that lateness could have a significant
> impact on their grades.
>
> Thanks again,
> Mike
>



-- 
*******************************
Larry K. Michaelsen, Professor of Management
Dockery 400G, University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO 64093
660/543-4315 voice, 660/543-8465 fax
For info on:
Team-Based Learning (TBL) <www.teambasedlearning.org>
Integrative Business Experience (IBE)
<http://ucmo.edu/IBEl<http://faculty.ucmo.edu/ibe/home.html>
>
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