Dear Susan: I sympathize with your challenge of dealing with students who are grade-obsessed (a.k.a. mark-obsessed in Australia). Our medical school has its share who may plead/argue/whine to test faculty’s resolve. Beyond this challenge, I have a few practical comments. A semester-long team project to create a team “product” is not a good match with team-based learning. Why? 1. There is no need to make a decision that will be compared with other teams—arriving at a single choice after working on the same problem 2. There is no opportunity for immediate feedback when all teams’ decisions are compared by simultaneous revealing of answers. 3. There is no motivation to actively engage in dialogue with other teams, because the team is mainly concerned about its own work. There is no need to rationalize and defend its thinking publicly during an inter-team discussion. A term-long project does invite and promote research into the literature, thoughtful reflection on the assignment, writing skills, presentation/communication skills (if the project is presented orally), and organizational skills. However, such long projects often result in unequal division of labor among team members, leading to some members taking a heavier responsibility, while other members are relieved to have less responsibility. There is a potential for hard feelings when all team members get the same grade without having contributed similar amounts or work. I think it’s almost inevitable that peer evaluation, if done honestly, will reflect some of this discontent with other team members. These comments are not intended to denigrate the value of long-term projects, but only to underscore why such projects do not work well in the setting of team-based learning. Team assignments, also called applications, are most engaging when they include the 4S criteria described by Michaelsen and Sweet (e.g., chapter 3 in Team-Based Learning for Health Professions Education, Stylus 2008): 1. significant problem to students 2. same problem worked on by all teams 3. specific choice made by all teams 4. simultaneous reporting of that choice to all teams Best, Paul Paul G. Koles, MD Associate Professor of Pathology and Surgery Chair Pathology Boonshoft School of Medicine Phone 937-775-2625 Fax 937-775-2633 From: Team-Based Learning <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Susan Hazel <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: Susan Hazel <[log in to unmask]> Date: Saturday, November 12, 2016 at 5:12 PM To: "[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> Subject: Re: interesting blog post on helping students work in teams Hi Laura, Thanks a lot for this, it’s very interesting and confirms what a lot of us using TBL try to do. I have had more problems with teams this last semester than for the last few years though, and wonder if anybody has any suggestions. I had a class of 170 students with 25 teams. They are Veterinary Science and Animal Science cohorts, with some Animal Science students scrabbling for every half mark they can get as they want to get into Veterinary Science. Teams do a team contract in Week 1, and are with tutors an hour a week in groups of 4-5 teams to provide assistance as they work on a semester long team project. The first part of this is evaluating scientific evidence relating to the use of farrowing crates in intensive piggeries using an Ethical Matrix, the second part is a video. They do a peer review, both formative and final, although the formative one is not compulsory and not many students did that this year. (One thing I could change is to make this compulsory). When there is friction in teams they usually go to their tutor first, and then if there is still a problem they will come to me as course coordinator. In the team project they work on they do a peer review at the end, but this is not compulsory and I only change marks if at least 2 members of a team agree that a team member should receive a lower mark. This year I had 2 teams with an individual team member who took over the team, and ended up completing a lot of the project themselves in an effort to get a better mark. In neither team was there a peer review to reduce marks for any team member. Since the project was marked as a team effort and not for any individual, I spoke to both individuals at some length but they went away unhappy as I didn’t give them higher marks for their contribution. Both students are trying to get into Veterinary Science, and are so focussed on marks I think they lose track of the actual work at times. If anybody has had any similar experiences or has suggestions they would be gratefully received. Best wishes, Susan Dr Susan Hazel Senior Lecturer, Animal Behaviour, Welfare & Ethics School of Animal & Veterinary Sciences The University of Adelaide, AUSTRALIA 5005 Ph : +61 8 8313 7828 e-mail: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Twitter: HazelSJ CRICOS Provider Number 00123M ----------------------------------------------------------- This email message is intended only for the addressee(s) and contains information which may be confidential and/or copyright. If you are not the intended recipient please do not read, save, forward, disclose, or copy the contents of this email. If this email has been sent to you in error, please notify the sender by reply email and delete this email and any copies or links to this email completely and immediately from your system. No representation is made that this email is free of viruses. Virus scanning is recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient. From: Team-Based Learning [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Laura Madson Sent: Saturday, 12 November 2016 7:21 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: interesting blog post on helping students work in teams Hello everyone - I tripped on this blog post describing two studies recently conducted by Erik Eddy and Caroline D’Abate. The link to the full post and an excerpt are below. http://scholarlyteacher.com/2016/11/10/stop-assigning-team-projects-unless/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__scholarlyteacher.com_2016_11_10_stop-2Dassigning-2Dteam-2Dprojects-2Dunless_&d=CwMGaQ&c=3buyMx9JlH1z22L_G5pM28wz_Ru6WjhVHwo-vpeS0Gk&r=Nt_pt6CHKcBeKpp1VTxjuhILrOtoUG0sZqof-XMAvZ0&m=V7aa5wQWVBXqJ3dZqx-MOX08CmsN6twse4lf5WjUXtY&s=3droDmP8RHv0F3kftZUAWqjK6Xyk7jmIKIZSx17bJls&e=> Excerpt: When taken together, results of these two studies suggest that: 1. Faculty who assign team projects without preparing their students to work in teams greatly increase the likelihood that students will have a negative experience and student learning and performance will suffer. 2. Teaching teamwork content is necessary but not sufficient for important educational and performance outcomes. 3. Providing ongoing teamwork support is critical to team success and student learning. Faculty who provide ongoing team support maximize student engagement and learning in the classroom. cheers, lm Laura Madson, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Psychology New Mexico State University Las Cruces, NM 88003 [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> lauramadson.com (575) 646-6207 ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the TEAMLEARNING-L list, please click here.<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__lists.ubc.ca_scripts_wa.exe-3FSUBED1-3DTEAMLEARNING-2DL-26A-3D1&d=CwMGaQ&c=3buyMx9JlH1z22L_G5pM28wz_Ru6WjhVHwo-vpeS0Gk&r=Nt_pt6CHKcBeKpp1VTxjuhILrOtoUG0sZqof-XMAvZ0&m=V7aa5wQWVBXqJ3dZqx-MOX08CmsN6twse4lf5WjUXtY&s=qne3TkXcpwmbjMGq-B8xu2C9U7kWbPZJxiP8qh6a_Uc&e=> Further information about the UBC Mailing Lists service can be found on the UBC IT website. ________________________________ To unsubscribe from the TEAMLEARNING-L list, please click here.<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__lists.ubc.ca_scripts_wa.exe-3FSUBED1-3DTEAMLEARNING-2DL-26A-3D1&d=CwMGaQ&c=3buyMx9JlH1z22L_G5pM28wz_Ru6WjhVHwo-vpeS0Gk&r=Nt_pt6CHKcBeKpp1VTxjuhILrOtoUG0sZqof-XMAvZ0&m=V7aa5wQWVBXqJ3dZqx-MOX08CmsN6twse4lf5WjUXtY&s=qne3TkXcpwmbjMGq-B8xu2C9U7kWbPZJxiP8qh6a_Uc&e=> Further information about the UBC Mailing Lists service can be found on the UBC IT website. ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the TEAMLEARNING-L list, please click the following link: https://lists.ubc.ca/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=TEAMLEARNING-L&A=1 Further information about the UBC Mailing Lists service can be found on the UBC IT website.