Part 1 - Will Team-Based Learning Work For Me?

Here are the specific Questions. Click on these to go directly to the Question and the Answer.

1. Are there any instructors for whom team-based learning will not work?
2. Should I try to use team-based learning with my subject matter?
3. Should I try to use team-based learning with my class size?
4. Should I try to use team-based learning if I am in a classroom with inflexible seating?
5. Should I try to use team-based learning if I teach in a 50-minute time slot?
6. Will team-based learning force me to invest a lot more time in my teaching?
7. Do I need any special skills to use team-based learning successfully?

Part I - Will Team-Based Learning Work For Me?

Question #1 Are there any instructors for whom team-based learning will not work?

Based on our experience, there are four groups of instructors who should not try to use team-based learning. These are instructors who: 1) are not yet certain what they want students to do beyond the goals of "learn and remember", 2) feel threatened by frequent student challenges, especially when the challenges come from students who are united in groups, 3) really enjoy the "performing" aspect of the teaching role, or 4) are unable to invest the time needed to redesign their approach to teaching.

Going beyond knowing. One of the greatest advantages of team-based learning is also a limitation. The advantage is that it shifts the focus of instruction from learning about concepts and ideas to learning how to use them in meaningful ways. The limitation is that it will not work unless the instructor is ready to provide students with an opportunity to, and to reward them for, learning how to use the basic content in a meaningful way. Thus, if the instructor's primary focus is on "covering" content and he or she fails to use application-focused assignments, students are likely to rebel at having to invest time and energy learning what seems to them to be an endless string of meaningless details.

Comfort with being challenged by students. This is another situation in which an advantage of team-based learning turns out to be a problem for some instructors. Team-based learning promotes a climate in which students feel free to challenge the instructor. In most cases, this is an advantage because it promotes both learning and instructor satisfaction. For some instructors, however, being challenged can be an anxiety-provoking experience. Thus, we would not recommend using team-based learning until you have a firm grasp on the material you will be teaching and are intellectually and emotionally "up" to being challenged by your students.

Satisfaction from the "performing" aspect of teaching. Although the majority of instructors who adopt team-based learning will not even consider going back to their old way of teaching, it can be very unrewarding for others. Due to the decreased role of lectures, faculty members who really enjoy preparing and delivering lectures end up feeling as though team-based learning robs them of the aspect of their teaching that they enjoy most.

Time needed to re-design your course. Shifting from a traditional approach to team-based learning does require a significant time investment for the developing of RATs and application-focused activities. Although the time required for the redesign process can be kept to a minimum (see "Will team-based learning force me to spend a lot more time in my teaching?" below), you are much more likely to have a positive experience if you delay your first team learning start up until you have time to plan out what you are going to do.

Question #2 Should I try to use team-based learning with my subject matter?

This question is most frequently asked by instructors with exactly the opposite concerns. On one end of the spectrum, some instructors worry that team-based learning will not work in courses that have a great deal of factual material to cover and that lend themselves to "right or wrong" answers such as chemistry, physics and many of the natural sciences. On the other end of the spectrum, some instructors, mainly in the humanities, worry that team-based learning will not work because there are no right or wrong answers.

In both cases, the answer as to whether or not team-based learning is appropriate for the subject matter is an unequivocal "Yes" and the key for both groups is having a clear picture of what you want students to do with the material. In both cases, the most common pitfalls in implementing team-based learning are related to the Readiness Assurance Process. However, the nature of the pitfalls is quite different for courses with lots of factual material than for courses with no right or wrong answers.

Courses emphasizing factual material. In this kind of course, the key is focusing the RATs on key concepts, not on details or computations. That is, the questions should focus on making sure that students understand the material in the table of contents and not on the material that is only in the index. If students get a clear "big picture" from the Readiness Assurance Process, they will add (and retain) the details as they complete application-focused assignments. If the RATS focus on details or computations, students are likely to feel that they are being punished for not memorizing everything. In addition, if the RATS focus on details, the potential value of the group RATs will be lessened by the fact that the discussion will be brief and will focus on what the reading says as opposed to what it means. Further, if the RATS emphasize doing computations rather than setting them up, there is seldom very much discussion because one member will simply act on behalf of the group.

Courses with no right or wrong answers. The key in this situation is focusing the Readiness Assessment Process on ensuring that students understand the criteria that
you will apply in grading their assignments, i.e., the RAT questions should assess their understanding of the models that you want students to use to complete their assignments. For example, a Sociology instructor could use a RAT to ensure that students understand concepts related to socio-economic status, then test their ability to use the concepts by assigning them to use the concepts to discriminate between: effective and ineffective campaign strategies in a presidential election, interactions among characters in a movie clip, the focus of television ads during different prime-time television programs, etc.

Question #3 Should I try to use team-based learning with my class size?

This question is most frequently asked by instructors with either very large or very small classes. In both cases, the answer as to whether or not team-based learning is appropriate is an unequivocal "Yes." In both cases, the key is using decision-based assignments and procedures that enable immediate comparisons with other teams. In large classes, this means the teacher needs to ensure that all the teams work on the same problem and then provide a way for teams to simultaneously reveal the choices they have made.

In classes that are too small to divide into two teams (i.e., fewer than 8 students), then the best option is using a single team and, whenever possible, providing them with ongoing comparisons to teams in similar classes, e.g., their RAT scores vs. average RAT scores from previous classes.

Question #4 Should I try to use team-based learning if I am in a classroom with inflexible seating?

Faculty members often worry that team-based learning won't work unless they can get their class scheduled into a classroom with round tables or moveable chairs. Based on our experience, this fear is largely unfounded. Although the physical layout of the classroom can be somewhat of a problem, team-based learning can be used effectively in virtually any classroom. The only essential condition is providing a space in which members have the possibility of having eye-contact with each other. For example, in tiered classrooms with fixed individual seats, instructors should make seat assignments such that members on one row can turn around and be face-to-face with the rest of their team. As long as teams have the possibility of doing so, they will develop procedures for overcoming the physical barriers inherent in the space to which they have been assigned.

Question #5 Should I try to use team-based learning if I teach in a 50-minute time slot?

Although team-based learning can be used effectively in 50-minute class periods, doing so usually requires making some adjustments. For example, Readiness Assessment Tests must be either very short or the Readiness Assurance Process has to be spread across more than one class period, i.e., the individual test on the first day and the team test, appeals and instructor input on the next one. Further, while a lecturer can simply end class when the time runs out and start again at the beginning of the next with very little disruption of the flow of the class, using blocks of time for in-class group work makes timing issues much more important. As a result, longer class periods help in two ways. One is that they allow more efficient use of time. The other is that they provide more flexibility for designing and managing in-class group assignments.

Question #6 Will team-based learning force me to invest a lot more time in my teaching?

This question is not an easy one to answer. On one hand, successfully implementing team-based learning does require most instructors to invest a significant amount of time to restructure their courses and develop effective team assignments. On the other hand, this task is largely a one-time effort. Once the course is up and running, the time required for operating and maintaining a team learning course is not substantially different from the time required to effectively teach a course in any other format. In addition, most teachers are able to streamline the course-restructuring process by using a variety of resources and by sharing ideas and assignments with other team learning users. Further, most team learning users find that their first course restructuring effort is the most time consuming and that the conversion process is much easier with subsequent courses.

Given the significance of the start-up costs, we have three recommendations. One is starting with the basics and adding sophistication over time. At a minimum, this means starting off each unit with a RAT that prepares students for one or more appropriate application-focused assignments. "Appropriate" here calls for all groups to be working on the same problem and making (and simultaneously reporting their) specific choices. Second, we recommend a strategy of implementing team-based learning in one course at a time. Finally, it is best to start with a course that has as many advantages as possible. These would include: familiar subject matter, a moderate number of students (20-40), at least a 75-minute time slot and, a classroom in which students do not face significant physical barriers to working face-to-face with each other.

Question #7 Do I need any special skills to use team-based learning successfully?

The personal characteristics of any teacher have an impact regardless of the teaching approach that he or she uses. For example, being organized and having a flair for the dramatic are two keys to being an effective lecturer. However, while getting organized is something that anyone can learn to do - it simply takes a commitment to do it - learning how to make spellbinding presentations can be very difficult for a large percentage of would-be lecturers.

Based on our observations, the majority of experienced teachers already have most of the skills required to effectively implement team-based learning. Most of us have already learned how to organize material, create and give tests and assignments, and provide feedback on student performance. The major change, which can be a difficult one, involves thinking differently about what should be happening in our classrooms. Instead of thinking about how we should be teaching, we have to focus on what we can do to enhance student learning. Beyond that, the one new skill that appears to provide the greatest challenge to new team learning users is developing the ability to design effective group assignments.