Dear Katie,

Sorry I didn't respond earlier but, I've been traveling and had limited
access to the internet. Your concern is quite common for first-time TBL
users. My advice in this situation (based on having intervened in ANY way
in only two groups out of the last 1,200+) is to simply follow good TBL
practice and don’t worry, everything will work out fine. If you are doing
three things you will have incentives and opportunities in place that will
turn your “problem” into a positive learning experience for everyone
involved as long as you don’t take away their opportunity by jumping in and
running interference for the four students who approached you. These
critical things are using:

1)   in-class individual RATs (especially if you allow partial credit for
the individual RAT).

2)   IF-AT answer sheets (or some other way to provide real-time feedback
on every decision).

3)   4-S applications (Significant problem, Same problem, Specific choice,
Simultaneous report).

When these three things are in place. The four worried students have two
very powerful tools that, in combination, will enable them to deal with the
potential bully as long as they continue to come to class prepared. One is
that. With the IF-AT’s the bully is only one scratch away from “eating
crow” during the tRATs. The other, which may have already happened, is that
4-S assignments automatically create the opportunity for the OTHER TEAMS IN
THE CLASS to help the bully realize that they need to do a better job of
listening to their teammates. The way that works is that, if a team member
bullies his or her team into an incorrect answer that is NOT correct and
you are using a simultaneous report, the bully will be faced with an entire
class who will gladly identify the flaws in his or her thinking and, in
many cases, confirm the validity of the ideas that he or she rejected when
they were presented by his or her teammates. For most potential bullies, it
only takes one instance of ignoring input from team members and
subsequently being unable to defend their point of view in an inter-team
discussion/debate for them to turn around.

Larry


On Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 12:03 PM, Harrison, Yvonne <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> Kate, I have a great exercise that I borrowed from David Green, Director
> of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle
> University. The "Four Corners" exercise comes from Sylvia Hurtado at UCLA
> and can be found in Therese's (2009) book, Teaching What You Don't Know.
> Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
>
> Here's a brief overview of the exercise:
>
> 1.      Put the following four signs up in different corners of the room:
> Talk a lot; Wait until I have something to say; Mostly listen; Take a
> contrary position.
> 2.      Read out the four corners and ask students to sit at the table
> nearest to the sign that best represents the way they engage/behave in
> teams/groups.
> 3.      Ask the students in each corner to discuss WHY they tend to
> engage/behave this way and WHAT bothers them about being in groups/teams.
> 4.      When questions have been answered (about 10 minutes), have
> students in each corner report out to the other students in the class. I
> tend to write the reasons and pet peeves on the board for all to    see.
>
> Talking with the students about communication styles has been
> enlightening. For me, it helps me understand students and why they tend to
> clam up or contribute in class. In fact, I've learned that the mostly
> listen group, tends to learn more. The challenge for this student is to
> learn how to share that knowledge. This exercise raises awareness of the
> need for students to self-manage in teams. I also use this information to
> create diverse teams (balance students who tend to talk a lot, mostly
> listen, contrarians, and wait until I have something to say). I have also
> noticed that students tend to have more empathy and support for each other
> in the team and class after I do this exercise. This is particularly
> helpful for ESL/International students who "mostly listen" because they
> cannot keep up with the fast pace of the English language. With respect to
> changes in student behavior, those who tend not to talk or talk too much
> contribute far more or less than they would without this
>   exercis
>
> All in all, I find it a very useful exercise for avoiding dysfunctional
> team problems.
>
> Yvonne
>
>
> Yvonne D. Harrison, PhD
> Assistant Professor, Public Administration and Policy
> Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy
> University at Albany, SUNY
> 518-442-4001
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Katie Alexander
> Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 12:05 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: dysfunctional team
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> I have a dysfunctional team and I'd like some advice. We just finished our
> first application exercise of the semester. Four out of five team members
> approached me after class to talk about one of their team members. They are
> frustrated because this team member immediately dismisses everything they
> say. He went ahead and reported during the application exercise with the
> answer he wanted rather than what the rest of the team came to consensus
> on. After that he stopped contributing completely and remained silent for
> the rest of class with his head on the desk (the other team members must
> have ostracized him). Apparently his behavior is already extreme and this
> is the third week of class. I'd like to intervene immediately and create a
> positive experience for everyone involved and make sure all students are
> respecting the contributions of others. Any suggestions?
>
> Best,
> Katie
>
> Katherine Alexander, PhD
> Assistant Professor, Psychology Department Founders Hall: 431 Office
> Hours: Tues/Thurs 10-12, Wed 11:30-12:30 & by appointment
>
> College of Mount Saint Vincent
> 6301 Riverdale Avenue
> Riverdale, NY 10471
>



-- 
*******************************
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>
>
*******************************