UBC Mailing Lists 17.0 - TEAMLEARNING-L Archives

Thanks for replying.

1. Have you prepared the students about what the process is – and that it may in fact be the first time in their lives that their individual work and typical study patterns may not give them the clarity they need – but the learning continues in the TRAT?

I spend the first week doing sample Apps and a RAT on the syllabus and use that experience to explain the peer learning that happens with the tRAT. I try to get them to understand that it is a formative rather than summative experience but I am not sure they understand what I mean.

2. Are your RAT questions clear recall or higher order (and the students need to understand that difference). If straight recall, too easy, and they did well – there would be little to discuss with team.

I consciously try to have mostly questions that are testing that they have done their reading but try to include 20-20% of the questions that are little more substantive. Honestly this is the part of TBL with which I have the most difficulty. Trying to balance out the quizzing function to encourage reading but not expecting complete mastery with having questions that will elicit discussion. I sometimes feel that these two functions of the iRAT and tRAT are mutually exclusive.

3. Have you reviewed your study guide – to make sure that it is clear to the students what to study

I have never spent time going over the reading guide other than to indicate these are the pages to read and this is the big take home issue being learned. But no, I don't go over each and every individual learning objective.

4. Most importantly – do you have meaningful application questions that allows the students to apply the information in the RAT (and the other things they have studied) so they get to use/apply what they learned (IRAT & TRAT) – so they can see the value?

This is something I have been consciously trying to improve. First time I used TBL I was only partially successful but think I am better now. Still could be better. But I have spent time trying to align my learning objectives, RATs, Apps, and exams with each other. Attending Dee's workshop on this has helped but it is still a work in progress.

5. What is your grading element for this?

My iRATs contribute 5% and tRATs 10% toward students' final marks. The Apps are worth 5%. MT exam is 20% and final exam is 30%. The remaining 30% is allocated to the lab portion of the course.

Cheers

Neil

RATs without application and high weightage to IRAT can be discouraging. But it takes time for them to appreciate the learning that comes.

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From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]');" target="_blank">[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Neil Haave
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2015 11:05 PM
To: [log in to unmask]');" target="_blank">[log in to unmask]
Subject: first RAT of the term

First the context: this is a first year course for majors and non-majors in biological function. Most of the students are either majoring in biology or intending to enter a professional program in the health sciences.

My question: How have people on this list handled the huge disappointment that happens with the first RAT of the first term in freshman courses?

This is typically students' very first university quiz as I start right after the first week of setting up the course structure with the first TBL module. This past weekend I gave students their reading assignment complete with reading guide (key objectives and keywords matched to the pages and figure numbers in the text book). Then they wrote their first RAT yesterday. I received fairly typical results I think except that the iRAT score were lower then I had hoped.

It breaks my heart when I hear stories from students during the tRAT and after class that they studied 10-15 hrs and made 10-15 pages of notes over the long weekend only to receive an iRAT mark of 2/10. They had such energy at the start of the term last week. Now I think I have killed it.

How do the rest of you manage this sort of disappointment and help students regain their spirit for learning (and mine for teaching!)? I suspect the issue is that many of these excellent students (and I have no doubt they achieved excellence in high school) simply were able to excel in high school without developing good study, reading, and note-taking skills. I have a couple of excellent senior students who will be coming into class tomorrow to explain how they read and take notes. I hope that helps.

I would love to hear the collective wisdom of the TBLC.

Thanks very much.

Neil

Neil Haave, PhD

Associate Professor, Biology

Managing Editor, CELT

Vice-President, AIBA

Faculty Affiliate, CTL

McCalla Professor

University of Alberta, Augustana Faculty

Rm C155, Science Wing, Classroom Building, Augustana Campus

4901 - 46 Avenue, Camrose, AB, CANADA T4V 2R3

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"We do not learn from experience . . . we learn from reflecting on experience" - John Dewey

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