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
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
Twitter: HazelSJ
CRICOS Provider Number 00123M
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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/
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]
lauramadson.com
(575) 646-6207
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