TLT

Getting Students Set up in Poll Everywhere

rosekr

Will you be using Poll Everywhere with your students this semester?  Make sure students set up their profiles correctly.

Here are a few pointers that can help getting things up and running more smoothly:

Text Responses
Participants MUST PROVIDE THEIR PHONE NUMBER that they will be texting responses from listed in their profile to be identified by name as a participant.

Web Responses
Participants MUST LOG IN for Poll Everywhere to be able to identify them.

If you want to be sure students’ names and user info carry over into the reports, students must have their phone number in their profile and/or log in to Poll Everywhere when they participate in your polls. To ensure they do this you may want to change the restrictions to “Restrict to registered participants only”, especially if you are using the poll as a grade item.

In some cases, students will show up as “Unregistered” pollers because either a) they participated via text and have not completed their profile or b) used the URL, but did not log into Poll Everywhere first.

Happy Polling!

Make It Stick Monday, TLT

Making It Stick – Increase Your Abilities

Michael S. Overholt

Chapter 7 of Make It Stick is called “Increase Your Abilities.”  The chapter is a conglomeration of related topics devoted to showing people can increase their learning abilities.  There is a section on “neuroplasticity,” a term neuroscientists are using to describe the ability of the brain to change physiologically based on the formation of synapses.  Another section answer the question “Is IQ Mutable?” with a resounding “Yes!” arguing that certain factors influence IQ levels such as economics and family dynamics and demonstrating that average IQ is up 18 points since a hundred years ago thanks to public education.  Carol Dweck’s research in “Growth Mindset” gets some space, too, which amounts by-and-large to the idea that “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”  The chapter ends with two sections on “Deliberate Practice” and “Memory Cues,” both of which fall within the context at the intersection of the book’s pressing theme—memory—and the chapter’s—the learner’s perspective.  For those of us who are turned on by personal development, it’s a dizzying array of evidence akin to looking out the top floor of the Empire State Building.  Well, almost.

The question I kept asking myself, however, while reading was, “This is great information for the learner, but I’m an instructor.  To what extent am I responsible to show students how to learn?  Is it not enough that I can show them to recognize and read an ablative absolute?”  I’m not sure if it’s an “age old” question for educators, but it strikes at the crossing of teaching vs. training.  The dichotomy may be false.  If, however, we look at teaching mores so as content-focused and training form-focused, much of what we do as teachers is communicate content.  How much of teaching learning’s form is the teacher’s responsibility?

(Before I go on, I offer as a reminder that CofC does have a space devoted to teaching students how to “study smarter.”  It’s called the Center for Student Learning and provides workshops on time management, note taking, writing research papers, etc.  If you need to point students to this space and its helpful workshop calendar, you can click here.)

Chapter 7 should encourage us in several vital ways.  First of all, believing in your students’ ability to learn is vital to enjoying your time and communicating your love for what you teach with students in the classroom.  The evidence is overwhelming in showing that our evolution as a species has made us capable of adapting to many different challenges throughout our lifetimes.  Even the evidence that suggested IQ windows begin closing after the first few years of life is largely false, according to the writers (175).  The onus is on identifying carefully our students’ baseline in order to create rigorous learning experiences that challenge and inspire them.

Secondly, Chapter 7 shifts the focus from performance to growth.  We get students from all walks of life, from many different family backgrounds, and from all over the world.  Most have three-quarters of their lives left to live after college.  If learning truly is a life-long endeavor and we advocate this perspective openly and often to students, teaching them how to learn is the most important thing that we can offer.  Information changes; the conclusion from research we painstakingly communicate to them will likely change or our understanding of what the information means will change.  References to “recent studies” are time-sensitive.

Allow me to shift gears in order to consider my initial question differently.  Perhaps you and I share the childhood experience of hearing the story from Hebrew mythology of Cain the farmer and Abel the shepherd: Cain gets jealous of Abel’s ability to please God and kills him.  A story of sibling rivalry at its most vicious.  The most haunting part for me has been the question God asks Cain: “Cain, where is your brother Abel?”  I call the question “haunting” in two respects.  The first is simply that this question haunts Cain and prompts him to reply with the infamous “Am I my brother’s keeper?”  In a second sense, however, the question is haunting because the answer is “Yes, you are your brother’s keeper.”  As a story from mythology, it prompts us to consider the human situation: what responsibility does one human have toward another?  What responsibility do I have toward those I encounter?

If this story applies at all to teaching, then my responsibility as a teacher is so much more than simply delivering content.  I personally feel called to helping students see the power of their ideas and abilities. In this sense, I can be my brother’s keeper.  It is appropriate, since today is devoted to remembering the work and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., to consider some of King’s words on this theme.  He consistently refers to the responsibility one person has to another.  In some of his final words to us from the “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, King insists:

Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together. Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness.

Let’s bring this back around to teaching. Ancient Greece had a proverb “Nothing in excess” that I believe applies to this teaching predicament. On the one hand, there is content that we have to communicate, analyze, and assess. But there is also the process of learning that needs to be taught. At times, this process feels rudimentary. How many times do we need to teach proper research methods, assess writing mechanics, etc.? In these moments when we feel the frustration of teaching students the process of learning, which is often less fun than the content that we find so fascinating, remember that someone took the time teach us so that we get to enjoy the vocation of working in higher education.

“Dangerous unselfishness”—what a powerful, transformative gaze to cast toward education.

TLT

Episode 2 – Discussing Spatial Narratives with Sarah Koellner

Michael S. Overholt

Sarah Koellner, a visiting assistant professor in the German and Russian Department, is using a technique called mapping to see the changing dynamics of East and West Germany as portrayed in the German TV series “Germany 83” and “Germany 86.”  When I spoke with her this past week, she brought me up to speed on the TV series, spatial narrative assignments, and how she hopes the assignment will challenge the students.

You can download PDFs of her course syllabus and mapping assignment to see how exactly this concept works within the class.

GRMN-390-01-Sarah-Koellner-19rqmb3

Mapping Intermediate German-10gl0hx

To see an example of a completed mapping assignment, click here.

Dig deeper with the Distance Education Extension Program launching January 2019
Distance Ed, TLT, Training Opportunities

Dig Deeper into Online Teaching and Learning!

Jessica Smith

Your Teaching & Learning Team is excited to announce a new professional development opportunity you won’t want to miss.  On January 30, 2019, we will launch the Distance Education Extension Program (DEEP for short).  This will be a series of online, self-paced mini-courses for faculty who are teaching online and hybrid classes.  While the Distance Education Readiness Course provides an introductory survey of pedagogical best practices, DEEP courses will focus on specific themes, allowing faculty to dig deeper into scholarship and praxis.

Online, Self-Paced, and On-Demand

The best part is DEEP courses are on-demand and self-paced.  Facilitated via OAKS, you can participate on your own schedule.  Spend a week or spend an entire semester.  There are no synchronous elements, required assignments, or grades. You can use the information presented to completely overhaul your teaching practices or you can use a single suggestion to make a small change.  However you use these courses is up to you.

To reward you for experimenting with new ideas, you have the option to earn a digital badge for each DEEP course you complete. Completion is determined by consuming all course content and submitting reflection exercises that demonstrate what you’ve learned. These badges can be added to your email signature, website, blog, or even your tenure and promotion materials.
A variety of colorful digital badges you can earn

On January 30, 2019, two DEEP courses will launch: “Cultivating a Community of Inquiry” and “Creating a Learner-Centered Syllabus.”  Over the summer and into the future, additional courses will become available.

Cultivating a Community of Inquiry

What is “presence” in the context of teaching and learning? As an instructor, you might think of presence as being mindful of the course climate and intentionally fostering a community of learners. One of the strongest factors impacting student retention in online courses is feeling a sense of community as opposed to learning in isolation.  Thus, cultivating community your online course makes a huge impact on student learning, engagement, and overall success. So, how do we accomplish this?

Dig deeper with self-paced online modules. Cultivating a Community of Inquiry course launching January 30, 2019

One approach is to apply the Community of Inquiry framework. This model describes the interplay between three elements—teaching presence, social presence, and cognitive presence. These types of presence are essential to develop deep and meaningful educational experiences in online learning environments. This course will address these three elements from theoretical and practical perspectives.  You will be provided with an overview of the research and get the opportunity to explore practical strategies that can be incorporated into your own classes.  Depending on what you create in response to the reflection exercises, this course will take most people 6 – 8 hours to complete. But, what you create and how much time you spend is completely up to you!

Creating a Learner-Centered Syllabus

What functions do syllabi serve? Common functions faculty cite include serving as a contract, listing required textbooks, detailing policies and procedures, and describing the focus of the course.  Less commonly, professors note that the syllabus describes their teaching philosophy, lists resources available to help students succeed, and explains how their course fits into a discipline or broader context.

Dig deeper with self-paced online modules. Creating a Learner-Centered Syllabus course launching January 30, 2019

One important role a syllabus plays that is frequently overlooked by professors is that it sets the tone for the rest of the semester.  The syllabus is the initial point of interaction between you and your students and it can create powerful first impressions.  Through content, tone, and format, does your syllabus come across as welcoming, conversational, and aesthetically-pleasing?  Or, does it seem cold, dictatorial, even infantilizing?  Be honest — if you were a student, would you want to read your syllabus?

Based on one of TLT’s most popular workshops, this course will provide an overview of the research on learner-centered syllabi, share best practices in syllabus design, and suggest non-traditional methods of presenting this essential document.  Depending on what you create in response to the reflection exercises, this course will take most people 4 – 6 hours to complete.  If you are creating a syllabus from scratch, it could take longer.  But, what you create and how much time you spend is completely up to you!

How Do I Sign Up?

No application or sign-up is required.  These courses are “on-demand” within OAKS and available to anyone who has already graduated from the Distance Education Readiness Course.  After January 30th, you can simply search for the courses on the OAKS homepage and access them whenever you like:

  1. Log into OAKS
  2. Click on the waffle icon in the top menu bar near your notifications and name
  3. In the search box, type either: Cultivating a Community of Inquiry or Learner Centered Syllabus
  4. Click the magnifying glass to search
  5. Click the name of the course that comes up in the results list.
  6. If you have any trouble accessing the course, please email Jessica at smithjt@cofc.edu

Haven’t taken the DE Readiness Course yet? We encourage you to chat with your department chair about whether online teaching is right for you and for your department.  We offer the 7-week, online preparatory course three times per year.  Visit the distance education webpage for more information.

Have questions about the Distance Education Extension Program or suggestions for future courses?  Please reach out to Jessica at smithjt@cofc.edu

ORGA
Collaboration, Productivity

Guest Blog Post | ORGA: The On-Campus Resource that Makes Grant Applications and Grant Management Easier!

Chris Meshanko

This post was written and submitted by the Office of Research and Grants Administration. If your office or department would like us to share updates, information, and/or resources with faculty, as part of our new holistic development focus, please contact Chris Meshanko.

We all know that applying for grants can be a real pain. We often hear that few people actually enjoy applying for grants, because they perceive that grant applications take up a lot of the time that they could spend on their projects. But, applying for grants is also an important way to get the resources you need to conduct projects. And, there are plenty of grants out there, not only for research projects, but for many other types of projects—such as curriculum development, community outreach and public service, instruction-related projects, equipment, and planning.

The Office of Research and Grants Administration (ORGA), at the College of Charleston, can help you with several steps in your grant application. ORGA assists in finding grants that are specific to your interests and offers support for preparation of your grant application, such as composing a budget and budget justification. Our staff also works to makes sure that the grant application is submitted on time.

Once a grant is awarded, ORGA staff, together with Grants Accountant staff in the Controller’s Office, help manage the grant. In general, ORGA acts as liaison with funding agencies, coordinating everything from the timely submission of financial and technical reports to applying for no-cost extensions and potential supplements. In addition, our office also handles research protections and compliance. Through education and the implementation of federal, state, local, and College of Charleston policies and procedures, ORGA promotes the responsible conduct of research.

So, if you are working on a project, developing a new curriculum, conducting research, or if you have an idea in mind and do not know where to start, come to our office and talk to us about it. We will help you find answers to your questions, and refer you to other faculty or staff who work on projects related to your interests. We are happy to meet with you and to discuss strategies for grant applications.

We also offer a variety of workshops for faculty and students on campus. In the past, we have successfully provided faculty workshops on grant proposal writing and student workshops on research protections and compliance, budgeting, and grant proposal writing. Please feel free to contact us regarding requests for grantsmanship workshops, as well as for other support.

Screenshot of FlipGrid video grid
Collaboration, discussion, Video

#OneNewThing: FlipGrid – lots of new features and totally FREE!

Mendi Benigni

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.101″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” border_width_all=”1px” border_color_all=”#c60027″ custom_margin=”|||” custom_padding=”|4px||10px” padding_left_1=”10px” box_shadow_style=”preset4″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ padding_left=”10px” parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.101″]FlipGrid is a video discussion platform that allows the professor or teacher to create a topic and the students to respond to that topic via video.  It can be used to:

  • hold online discussions,
  • practice languages or public speaking,
  • hold online debates,
  • create class community,
  • student introductions,
  • student reflection,
  • elevator pitches, and so much more.

You are just limited by your imagination!  It’s a wonderful way for students to verbalize their learning and share.

If you’ve tried FlipGrid in the past then now’s the time to try it again.  They have partnered with Microsoft so all the Premium features are now available for FREE!
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_image src=”https://blogs.charleston.edu/tlt/files/2018/09/Screen-Shot-2018-09-03-at-2.18.41-PM-19wln3z.png” _builder_version=”3.0.101″][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_image src=”https://blogs.charleston.edu/tlt/files/2018/09/images-3-2ay7vwa.jpeg” _builder_version=”3.0.101″][/et_pb_image][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.0.101″]

CHECK OUT THE COOL FEATURES OF FLIPGRID

  • The Recorder/Camera – allows the user to switch between horizontal and vertical while recording on a phone or tablet.
  • Works on a computer, phone, or tablet.
  • Can trim the beginning and/or end of a video recording.  Can also append to your recording.
  • Can add “Vibes” which are tags that you put on top of the video.
  • Can add an attachment (external link) to your video.  The teacher can use this to make a lesson in their initial prompt to give the students resources to inform their response.
  • GridPals – Link with other classrooms across the country or the world.  Great for cultural and language learning.
  • Emoji support in Topics and Grids.  This can help with blending images and text and for voting or giving a feeling about the grid.
  • Replies – when a student leaves a reply, other students can now reply back, making the grid a “threaded” video discussion.
  • Collaborative storytelling where Student 1 starts the story, then Student 2 adds a piece of the story via a reply, and it keeps going with all the students.

[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_button button_url=”https://twitter.com/search?q=%23flipgridfever%C2%A0&src=typd” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Learn more on Twitter #flipgridfever” _builder_version=”3.0.101″][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ parallax=”off” parallax_method=”on”][et_pb_button button_url=”https://flipgrid.com/1oaq8a” url_new_window=”on” button_text=”Try out this FlipGrid – password is: FlipGridCofC” _builder_version=”3.0.101″][/et_pb_button][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

Faculty Showcase, Innovative Instruction, instructional technology, Productivity

Episode 1 – Weather-proofing the Classroom: A Conversation with Professor Ricard Viñas-De-Puig

Michael S. Overholt

During the 2018 Fall Semester, the College of Charleston canceled five days worth of classes on account of hurricanes.  It would be nice to think this semester was a fluke, that experiencing two separate hurricanes in one semester is a once-every-fifty-years situation.  But scientists are telling us that climate change is bringing bigger storms more often.  As teachers, we need to think of how we can design a more resilient course structure, one whose tension, support, and anchorage can withstand the cancellations that university administrators need to make for our physical safety.

Recently, I spoke with Ricard Viñas-De-Puig, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Hispanic Studies.  He said that some of the skills that he learned in the Distance Education Readiness course were helpful for overcoming obstacles created by the weather cancellations.  Keep listening to hear what he had to say.

calendar
Productivity, TLT

#OneNewThing: Easy Appointment Scheduling using Microsoft Bookings

Mendi Benigni

As you know, being that students use Gmail and Google for their calendar, they can’t schedule an appointment with you the way other faculty and staff can. This can make it a pain for faculty to book student conferences or advising appointments.  However, with our Microsoft 365 campus license comes a bunch of interesting applications and one of them is Bookings.  Bookings provides a way to allow students to schedule appointments with you ONLY within parameters that you choose.

HOW YOU SET UP BOOKINGS

With Bookings you set up all of your acceptable parameters.  You can set up:

  • Services – where you set up what the appointment is for and the time it should take.  An example could be GroupPresentation Meeting – 30 min.
  • Hours – where you can set up the hours per day where you will accept appointments.  You can set several time blocks for each day.  An example could be:
    screenshot of the business hours showing Monday 8-10 and 1-4
  • Scheduling Policy – where you can set the minimum amount of lead time you have to have before someone can book with you.  For example, at 1:15 someone can’t book a 2:00 appointment with you if your minimum lead time is 60 min.

Bookings then generates a “Bookings Page” that is where users can go to book an appointment with you.  You can link this page in your email signature or in OAKS for easy student access.

HOW OTHERS SCHEDULE WITH YOU

  1. Users go to your Bookings page (example: http://bit.ly/BookWithMendi)
  2. They select the type of meeting or appointment they want
  3. Lower on the page the calendar changes to show ONLY slots that are open for that amount of time within the Hours constraints you set earlier.screenshot of a bookings page
  4. User selects the time they want.
  5. They add their details: Name and email.
  6. They provide any additional information you require them to provide (example: reason for the meeting).
  7. Then click Book.
  8. The User/Student gets an email from which they can change their appointment or cancel it and add it to their own calendar.  They will also get an email reminder before the appointment so there is no excuse for them forgetting.
  9. You will get an email and it will automatically be added to your Outlook calendar.

Bookings feeds off your Outlook calendar for availability, so even if you manually add an appointment to your calendar it will not be available on the Bookings page.

 

I really like the Bookings app.  It saves me from going back and forth with people in order to compare availability.  It’s simple and easy for you and for the end user/student.  Give it a try!

  1. Go to http://portal.office.com
  2. Click Explore all your apps –>
  3. Scroll down and click Bookings to get started

If you want to know more just let us know! We are happy to show you how to set it up and use it.

Assessment, Make It Stick Monday, Pedagogy, TLTCon

Killing our Darlings

Michael S. Overholt

The following is the third post on the book Make It Stick by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel.  Henry L. Roediger, III will be the keynote speaker at this year’s TLTCon, May 16-17, 2019, on the campus of the College of Charleston.  Attendees will receive a free copy of Make It Stick at a registration event on March 14, 2019 to promote Roediger’s visit and the learning experience. Click the hyperlinks to read blog posts on “effortful retrieval” and “varied practice” as learning strategies.

“In writing, you must kill all your darlings.”  That’s advice from William Faulkner where he is encouraging writers not to shy from deleting favorite but useless passages from manuscripts.  It may be helpful advice for teachers, too.   Few theories are as dear as learning styles theory (LST), which urges teachers to use a variety of presentation methods to meet preferred modes of learning.  If you believe the grammar of chapter six’s title “Get beyond Learning Styles” expresses the writers’ true feelings about LST, you’re correct.  Move past it.  Get over it.  Research suggests the theory is overrated at best and dispiriting at worst.

We shouldn’t be surprised at their argument, however, given LST’s “perverse effect” (148) of subordinating hard work to style preference.  Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel have made it abundantly clear that effort is key to learning.  That’s the one note they’ve been blowing all along. The sooner we jettison “easy learning is the best learning” the better.

That said, we should consider whether a chapter debunking learning style theory is nothing short of a “Get out of jail free” card for us instructors—i.e., we don’t have to worry about how we teach since learning is really up to the learner.  Such is not the case.  In a previous blog on “effortful retrieval” (ET) I highlighted the limitations of “dipstick testing”—i.e., testing that measures a student’s short-term memory.  These tests can also be called “static testing” because they measure a student’s learning at a specific time in the same way that a dipstick tells us where the oil level is while we’re at the BP on Highway 17 at 3:15 pm on Monday, November 26, 2018.  The information is helpful for the moment but could quickly become irrelevant if an engine valve is going out or the oil plug is faulty.  In short, there are more precise measurements to take if we really want to know how the Honda Accord is running.  Enter dynamic testing, a term we could have predicted.  Dynamic testing aims at

determining the state of one’s expertise; refocusing learning on areas of low performance; follow-up testing to measure the improvement and to refocus learning so as to keep raising expertise.  Thus, a test may assess a weakness, but rather than assuming that the weakness indicates a fixed inability, you interpret it as a lack of skill or knowledge than can be remedied (151).

If this description rings with Carol Dweck’s concept of a growth mindset, you’re right, and there are at least two important takeaways for instructors.  The first is represented directly from the above excerpt: offer testing regularly for students to assess their weaknesses.  They can redouble efforts to improve weak areas and check for improvement with subsequent testing.  Certain course formats are more suited for this type of testing and follow-up testing, gaming being perhaps the best.

The second takeaway is more applicable to a wider variety of course designs: clearly identify what skill(s) we are testing.  As teachers, we can too easily be guilty of giving tests that simply cover content areas.  Ill-defined testing yields useless information.  Call it non-information or—better yet—Statistically Hopeless Ill-defined Testing.  Would any one of us be satisfied by going to the doctor and having to sit through a barrage of tests only to be told we’re “sick” at the end of the appointment?  “Sick with what?” we demand.  That diagnosis isn’t good enough for you or the doctor, and more testing will ensue.  The same holds true in cases where Professor Z announces, “There will be a quiz on chapter 10, pages 253-75.”  What’s being measured?  Students who earn a D on a quiz so poorly defined only know that they are below average in chapter 10, pages 253-75.  That’s not helpful, and it’s not education.

Providing our students with clearly articulated objectives prior to testing is essential to dynamic testing.  The clarity lets the students know exactly what skill they are being tested on.  As instructors, we should be able to finish this statement for every graded assignment: “This [test, quiz, writing assignment, etc.] measures the student’s ability to . . .”  (Nota bene: I recommend Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Action Verbs to formulate and scale objectives.) The student should be able to verbalize the objective(s) in return.  If we can’t say precisely what we are testing, let’s save ourselves the irritation when grading and students the bewilderment of blindly reading over information in hopes of reaching unforeseen goals.  That’s a darling everyone can do without.

Team-based Learning: a quick guide to understanding
Assessment, Best Practices, Collaboration, Innovative Instruction, Pedagogy

Team-Based Learning Quick Guide

Mendi Benigni

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What is Team-Based Learning?

“Team-Based Learning is an evidence-based collaborative learning teaching strategy designed around units of instruction, known as “modules,” that are taught in a three-step cycle: preparation, in-class readiness assurance testing, and application-focused exercise. A class typically includes one module.” 1

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Why incorporate Team-based Learning?

TBL covers all types of learning:

  • rote and concept learning tested by the individual assurance testing (iRAT)
  • collaborative learning when discussing and coming to consensus on the team readiness assurance test (gRAT/tRAT)
  • application and creative learning during the team case portion

In addition, it also encourages additional skills necessary to succeed in work/life today, such as:

  • problem-solving
  • teamwork
  • consensus
  • cooperation
  • leadership
  • listening skills
  • collaboration

 

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When should you incorporate Team-based Learning?

TBL is most successful when used on a consistent basis throughout the semester.  This is because the critical component to TBL is the ongoing, consistent team!  CIEL at Vancouver University states, “Groups are collections of individuals. Teams are groups who have developed a shared purpose and sense of collective responsibility. Groups evolve into teams when an instructor creates the proper conditions for effective collaboration.” 2  In order for these teams to gel and be successful they need to meet and work together on a regular basis otherwise, it’s just in class group work.

TBL can be used in any discipline so don’t shy away from the idea because you don’t immediately see how this will work for you.   A little web research will show you many case studies and problems that you can use to teach your concepts.  When choosing a case or problem remember, the teamwork is most effective “when used with assignments where students are asked to converge their diverse thinking in making a single, collective decision, much like a deliberative body.”2

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Creating the Teams

The teams are the most important part of TBL.  Here are a few rules to follow when making the groups:

  1. never use student-selected teams
  2. create diverse teams (balanced intellectual and personality resources)
  3. make the selection process transparent
  4. 5-7 students per team
  5. decide what criteria are important to the groups in your class, as well as detrimental.  Ex. had previous courses in the program.
  6. prioritize your criteria (good and bad)
  7. call out the first criteria and allow the students to self-determine if they meet the criteria or not

Learn more about creating your teams at Team Formation for TBL.

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The Process

Taught in modules (usually one per class) in three-step cycles: preparation, in-class readiness assurance testing, and application focused exercise.  

  • Student Preparation:
    • must be done before the class – watching, reading, completing a worksheet, etc.
    • some give a reading/watching guide of things to look for and vocab to know.
  • In-class Readiness Assessment Test (RAT):

Step 1:  Students complete an individual RAT (5-20 questions) and submit it (this is not on the if-at) a.k.a. iRAT
These questions are based on the reading(s) and shouldn’t be an easy yes/no answer.  They are multiple choice but should require some thought and application.

Step 2: Students get into their teams and take the same RAT together (uses if-at) a.k.a. tRAT or gRAT
All answers must be agreed upon by the entire team so if there is a discrepancy, the students have to try to convince the other students on the team until they come to a consensus.  This is the same test they took earlier as an individual.  

Team reads the question and discusses it.
They then scratch off the answer they agree upon on the If-At scratch-off.
If it is correct they see a star and get full points.
If it is incorrect they have to discuss again and give it another go.
They continue to scratch answers until they receive the correct one.  Their points decrease every time they incorrectly scratch.

Step 3: Teams are given the opportunity to appeal answers they got incorrect.  This is a formal process in writing where they state their Argument then provide Evidence with page numbers from the readings that back their argument.

Step 4: Professor conducts a clarifying lecture of what the students didn’t grasp, based on the RAT scores.

  • Application Exercise:
    • students are given a problem or challenge and they must come to a team consensus to choose the “best” solution.  These problems do not have one right answer.
    • the teams discuss their findings and solution with the class.

The application-based exercises are very case-based and should include the following:

  • Significant: demonstrates a concepts usefulness.
  • Specific choice: based on course concepts.  Ex which procedure is BEST to use and why.
  • Same problem: all teams receive the same problem.
  • Simultaneous report to the class in a discussion.

Scaffolding

  • Instructors can give a worksheet to the teams that teach them to think through a problem by walking them through the process, how to dissect a statement and make an argument.

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Student to Student feedback at midterm and final

This feedback is critical to the success of a long-term team so these evaluations are an important part of the process.  The feedback should be positive and constructive.  Here are some ideas for questions:

  • One thing they appreciate about this team member
  • One thing they request of this team member
  • Distribute points among the members
    • Look at Preparation, Contribution, Gatekeeping, Flexibility
  • Also, include what they appreciate/request about the instructor

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Sample Case Repositories

Public Health

Exercise Science

PEHD

 

COFC ONLY – Does this seem at all interesting?  If so, contact me and I’ll give you the IF-AT scratch-off cards to use in your class.  They include instructions and a test-maker!  This offer is first come, first serve so don’t wait!  Email benignim@cofc.edu using your CofC email to let me know you want them.

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Resources:

Team-Based Learning Collaborative

Team-Based Learning Video

Yale Center for Teaching and Learning: Team-based Learning

What is Team-Based Learning? from the Center for Innovation and Excellence in Learning

 

 

 

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