Dear Phillip,

I too agree that it is accountability which is lacking (either the students do not have it or you have not communicated nor rewarded/held them to be accountable).

 

Here are a few additional things you can do to assist with this.

1.       Weight the grade of the IRAT slightly more than the TRAT (not done by all schools) but will certainly let students know that they need to be accountable for their pre readings.

2.       Make sure that you facilitate the questions after the TRAT.  And when you do, do not read the answers to the students or ask for students to raise their hands, etc.  When going over the difficult questions or concepts- pick on a single person from a team to answer and then redirect to other students. 

3.       Make sure that students know that they will be held accountable for their team’s answers and make sure that they know that they might be called on to defend their team’s answers

4.       You might also wish to display the average IRAT (and range) and the average TRAT (and range) scores on the board so that students can see how they have done in relation to the whole class…again, not all programs do this, but we found it to be useful in one of the schools where I worked.

5.       I would not worry about the ‘taking notes’ issues so much, generally if they are involved in the discussion and know that at any moment you might call on them as a facilitator, then they should pay attention and absorb things.  Some students learn well by taking notes- other by listening- so that is probably not the limiting factor in their knowledge retention.

6.       Make sure your application questions are written well and that they make the students struggle, but also that you facilitate in such a way that all students are held accountable and have to participate (see ref).

 

For more on facilitation in the TBL classroom- please see this reference: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/0142159X.2014.1001729#.VgVh6n3b_v4

 

I hope this helps.

Charles

 

p.s. It takes a few years to get it right…so good on you for implementing it and don’t worry about tweaking and improving it over the years. 

 

 

 

Hi Philip,

 

Although I’m sure note taking would help, I think the culprit might be lack of accountability.  You mention that some students are not doing the reading. That’s a huge red flag to me. I teach freshmen/sophomores with TBL and ensuring each student is accountable is imperative.  I use the 70% rule: if a student doesn’t achieve an average 70% on her IRAT scores, then her IRAT average serves as her TRAT average (the TRAT always would be higher).  This is a huge motivator for the students to do well on their IRATs.  I also will require them to bring notes on the reading to class, and  during TRATs and application exercises I will walk around the room and nudge the quieter folks to speak.  A colleague who uses TBL says that in the first peer review, she provides comments to all students; I like that idea and will try it next semester.

 

When I do the mini-lectures after the TRAT, they will take notes *if I tell them to do so.*  I’ve never noticed my students taking notes unless directed. Yours may be the same. 

 

-Candice

 

 

Candice Benjes-Small, MLIS

Head, Information Literacy & Outreach

McConnell Library, Radford University, Radford, VA

540.831.6801

[log in to unmask]

 

 

 

 

Specifically, note taking…..

 

In my early experiences with TBL (just finished my first unit, started the 2^nd) I am pleased with the nature of the discussion within teams I hear during tRATs and the application questions.   I also notice that no one is taking notes during those discussions or during the ‘post-voting’ discussion.

 

I know that the deliberation alone is supposed to increase learning………………but I don’t see evidence of it in the tests I am grading (performance is as poor, or poorer than when I just lecture on the same topics.

 

While I believe that the main reasons for poor performance are not doing the reading in the first place (just counting on the team to bail them out/using common sense not informed opinion during the TBL discussions), and poor study habits, I wonder if not recognizing the discussion as a note taking opportunity is also part of the problem.

 

What do you see from your successful vs. less successful students in this regard?

 

[Note: I’m teaching an intro. to Human Geography to predom. 1^st and 2^nd year students at a ‘moderately selective’ institution where about 1/3 of the 1^st year students need remediation in reading, writing, math………..many of whom seem to show up in my class, perhaps b/c they perceive geography as easier than Poli. Sci., history, etc]

 

From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Danielle Inscoe-Lively
Sent: Thursday, September 24, 2015 7:16 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: TBLC Workshop Abstract Deadline

 

 

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