{"id":138,"date":"2022-12-05T18:01:25","date_gmt":"2022-12-05T18:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gre.ac.uk\/sebe\/?p=138"},"modified":"2022-12-05T18:01:25","modified_gmt":"2022-12-05T18:01:25","slug":"team-based-learning-tbl-teaching-without-boundaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gre.ac.uk\/sebe\/team-based-learning-tbl-teaching-without-boundaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Team Based Learning (TBL): Teaching Without Boundaries?<\/strong>\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Gabriella Cagliesi, Mahkameh Ghanei and Francesco Guidi<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silver lining of the recent pandemic experience has been the removal of physical boundaries in teaching as students are not confined to a location and now join from four corners of the world, allowing teaching without boundaries.   This acquired flexibility can be successfully used in a team-based learning (TBL) approach which was historically designed for in-class group interaction learning.  Although TBL can be offered remotely online, its steps and structure will remain the same: students are still asked in advance to prepare for the session and to demonstrate their personal understanding of the topic area before joining their teammates for group activities.  A substantial body of empirical evidence in different disciplines has shown that through TBL\u2019s collaborative working on a real-world scenario(s), students will deepen their knowledge and understanding of the topic.  With an effort to address the issues of inclusivity and award gaps, we decided and successfully applied TBL to in-person, online and blended sessions for a core module of a final year undergraduate economics degree and a postgraduate economic course, for classes of around 40 to 50 students.  This is due to the nature of the TBL activities which enable students to engage effectively even from remote locations, for instance by using: Zoom break-out rooms; Microsoft Teams; Canvas quizzes; Kahoot competitions; and recorded videos.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

More importantly, TBL also caters for students with special needs, who with the aid of appropriate technology can join and fully contribute to their respective teams\u2019 activities.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is TBL and what did students do?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students participated in the following three TBL phases (see Table 1 below): <\/p>\n\n\n\n

i. Phase 1<\/span>:<\/strong> they got ready by reading, watching videos and completing homework in preparation for the next session\u2019s activities and exercises.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ii. Phase 2<\/span>:<\/strong> they tested their knowledge with an individual in-class quiz (iRAT \u2013 individual Readiness Assurance Test) consisting of ten multiple choice questions (MCQs), re-tested the same quiz in an in-class team (tRAT \u2012 team Readiness Assurance Test) by working and collaborating with their teammates.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

iii. Phase 3<\/span>: <\/strong>they applied their knowledge by finding solutions for different real-life scenarios during in-class exercises which were specifically designed for students to carry out numerical and analytical exercises and other related technical activities.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Table 1: Structure and delivery of team-based learning<\/em> (TBL)<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did we do?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We did the following: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

i.<\/strong> We created teams\/groups<\/span><\/strong> which were as diversified and inclusive as possible, based on ability (i.e. second year grades), gender and ethnicity (see below).  <\/p>\n\n\n

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ii. We created team-bonding activities<\/span><\/strong> (i.e. the \u2018Escape Room<\/em>\u2019) to introduce and strengthen group bonding. Each team was asked to book a session with this company and collectively complete the activity and report back about their individual and group experience (see the picture below).  This experience was supported and financed by the Faculty.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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iii. We designed<\/span> <\/strong>appropriate interactive activities around each topic area to achieve the desired learning outcomes.  In the educational literature this approach is referred to as \u2018backward<\/em>\u2019 design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

iv. We facilitated<\/span><\/strong> teamwork in class by observing, listening and prompting discussion within each team (see the figure below). <\/p>\n\n\n

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v. We provided timely feedback<\/span>:<\/strong> for individuals, teams, and overall class feedback by comparing groups\u2019 solutions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

vi. We created assessments<\/span>: <\/strong>all TBL activities throughout the term were viewed as formative assessments except the last week\u2019s exercises which counted as a summative to replace the traditional end-of-year examination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was achieved?<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

i. <\/strong>Tutors\u2019 perspective<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n