As a part of CIT’s Team-Based Learning Course Design Fellows, seventeen faculty and graduate students have redesigned courses to use Team-Based Learning techniques. Faculty redesigned both large (320 students) and small (9 students) courses in Public Policy, Biology, Physics, Religion, ISIS, Nursing, Global Health, Canadian Studies, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences and Statistical Science. (See below for list of participants and courses.) Why were they interested in using Team-Based Learning? Nick Carnes, Assistant Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy, said:
I wasn’t satisfied with the amount of learning students were doing in my traditional lecture courses … TBL seemed to meet several of my goals: in particular, increasing student engagement, simultaneously serving students with different levels of knowledge about the subject matter, and creating classroom environments that more closely mimicked the kind of work students will do in the real world.
At the last meeting, enthusiastic participants discussed the “wins”:
- Application activities engaged students in animated discussions of course content
- Faculty learned immediately when and where students were struggling
- Energetic, fun classes
Participants were asked “Overall, my use of TBL techniques this semester had a __________ impact on my teaching experience.” Their responses are shown here. All were positive, and most were very positive.
Learn from their experience! Read advice contributed by the participants (PDF).
Will faculty use TBL techniques again? Of the thirteen faculty who used TBL in the fall (and answered the survey), thirteen (100%) answered yes!
Based on their experience in the fellowship, three faculty (Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, Statistical Sciences, Daniel Gauthier, Physics, and Rebecca Vidra, Environmental Science) will present “Integrating Team-Based Learning Across Disciplines: Ideas and Challenges” at the Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching in Greensboro in February.
In upcoming months, descriptions of the transformed courses will be featured on this blog. First up is a description of Rebecca Vidra’s Restoration Ecology course.
Join the discussion about integrating TBL techniques at brown bag informal meetings on the third Tuesday of each month in Perkins Library.
For a brief introduction to team-based learning, see team-based learning website or Larry Michaelsen’s Essential Elements of TBL (PDF) and watch Dr. Len White (Duke Institute of Brain Sciences) describe how TBL use is growing at Duke.
Participants and Courses
| Faculty | Title and Department | Course # and title (F= Fall 2012, S = Spring 2013) |
enrollment |
| Nicholas Carnes | Assistant Professor, Sanford School of Public Policy | PubPol 814 The Politics of the Policy Process(F) PubPol 301 Political Analysis for Public Policy-Making (S) |
34 (F) 41 (S) |
| Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel | Assistant Professor of the Practice, Statistical Science | STA 101 Data Analysis and Statistical Inference (F)STA 101 Data Analysis and Statistical Inference (S) | 94 (F) 96 (S) |
| Dennis Clements | Professor of Pediatrics, Community and Family Medicine, and Global Health | GLHLTH 501 Global Health Capstone (S) | 21 (S) |
| Daniel Gauthier | Professor of Physics | PHYSICS 621 (= ECE 541/BME 552) Advanced Optics(F) | 9 (F) |
| Michelle Hartman | Assistant Professor, Nursing | NURSING 243 Community/Public Health Nursing (F) Nursing 243 (S) NURSING 241 Community Partnerships (S) |
65 (F) 62 (S) 56 (S) |
| Alison Hill | Lecturer, Biology | *organized part of Bio 201 (F) | 310 (F) |
| Steve Kelly | Visiting Professor of the Practice of Public Policy and Canadian Studies | CAN 350/PubPol 216 The US Border (F)CAN 250S/PolSci 223/PubPol 221 North America:Critical Issues (S) | 18 (F) 18 (S) |
| Katie Kretovich | Graduate Student, Cell and Molecular Biology | Biology 179 Biology and Human Disease (S) | 15 (S) |
| Cory Krupp | Associate Professor of the Practice of Public Policy | PUBPOL 606 Macroeconomic Policy and International Finance (F) | 24 (F) |
| Laura Lieber | Associate Professor, Religion | Religion/Jewish Studies 89S (F) Religion/Jewish Studies 345 (S) | 13 (F) 6 (S) |
| Richard Lucic | Associate Professor of the Practice of Computer Science, Associate Chair, Computer Science and Curriculum Director, Information Science and Information Studies | ISIS 240/VMS 288/AMI 325 Fundamentals of Web-Based Multimedia Communications (S) | 20 (S) |
| Dick MacPhail | Associate Professor of Chemistry | * helped CHEM 110 Honors Chem (F) CHEM 101 Concepts in Chemistry (S) |
117 (F) 143 (S) |
| Yuvon Mobley | Graduate Student, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology | ||
| Alyssa Perz-Edwards | Assistant Dean of Trinity College and Lecturer in Biology | Biology 179 Biology and Human Disease (S) | 15 (S) |
| Chantal Reid | Assistant Professor of the Practice in Biology and Environmental Sciences & Policy | Biology/Environ 228 Food and Fuel for a Growing Population: Nuts and Bolts of Plant Growth and Production (F)Biology/Environ 153 Ecosystem Health and Human Well-Being (S) | 8 (F) 9 (S) |
| Roxanne Springer | Professor of Physics | PHYSICS 161L Fundamentals of Physics (F) | 24 (F) |
| Rebecca Vidra | Lecturer, Environmental Sciences & Policy | Environ 217 Restoration Ecology | 16 (F) |
* Participant was not primary instructor in course
** Student enrollment data from SISS December 2012