I've used a TBL structure for my environmental economics class
three times and would like to consult the group regarding two
difficulties I've been having.
First, students are not preparing well enough for the RATs.
My class is divided into 5 modules, each of which starts with a
RAT. Students are required to watch 2-3 videos I've prepared
and read several chapters prior to each RAT. I find that
students are entirely unaccustomed to this and, as seen in the
analytics of the videos, they tend to try to do all of their
preparation within the 24 hour period prior to each RAT.
Obviously they see the consequences of this in their grades and
I am constantly reminding them to get started early; but their
tendency to not prepare early seems to show little if any
improvement as the semester goes on.
Second, my class is offered at 8:00 a.m. and late arrivals
and absences are a problem. To instill a greater sense of
responsibility, I require the teams to create a contract at the
beginning of each semester and I have them take care of their
own attendance. But unless there was a RAT or test, by the
end of the semester about 50% of the seats were empty at 8:00.
While the early arrivers complain and comments do show up in
the peer evaluations, peer pressure does not seem to be
sufficient to have much effect.
My idea to address both of these issues is to have 5-minute
team quizzes at the start of each non-RAT class. The quiz
would cover either the material for a class (usually a short
reading) or a very easy question over part of the material for the
next module to keep them on schedule with their readings.
I would greatly appreciate suggestions on alternative solutions
or comments on my proposal.
Rich Woodward
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Richard T. Woodward, Department of Agricultural Economics
Texas A&M University, 2124 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-2124
Phone #: 979-845-5864 Fax #: 979-845-4261
Homepage:
http://agecon2.tamu.edu/people/faculty/woodward-richard/,
http://resourceeconomics.tamu.edu/
Assistant: Michele Zinn 979-845-2333