Team-Based Learning

To facilitate learning, team-based learning (TBL) relies on small-group interactions, perhaps more heavily than any other instructional strategy in postsecondary education. This conclusion is based on three facts. First, with TBL, group work is central to both exposing students to and enhancing their ability to apply the course content. Second, with TBL, the vast majority of class time is used for group work. Third, courses taught with TBL typically involve multiple group assignments that [Page 1534]are specifically designed and sequenced to promote both learning and the development of self-managed learning teams.

Figure 1 Team-Based Learning Instructional Activity Sequence (Repeated for Each Major Instructional Unit, i.e., 5–7 per course)

Source: The earliest version of Figure 1 originally appeared in Michaelsen, L. K., Knight, A. B., & Fink, L. D. (2004). Team-based learning: A transformative use of small groups in higher education. Sterling, VA: Stylus, p. 41.

The primary learning objective in TBL is to go beyond simply “covering” content and focus on ensuring that students have the opportunity to practice using course concepts to solve problems. Although, some time in the TBL classroom is spent on ensuring that students master the course content, the vast majority of class time is used for team assignments that focus on using course content to solve the kinds of problems that students are likely to face at some point in the future. Figure 1 outlines how time is typically organized in each unit of a TBL course.

In a TBL course, students are strategically organized into groups of five to seven members who work together for at least an entire term. The content is organized into major units (typically five to seven) and TBL courses are “flipped” (i.e., before any in-class content work, students must complete a pre-class study assignment for the unit). The in-class work for each unit begins with the Readiness Assurance Process (RAP). In the RAP, students first take a short individual test and hand in their answer sheets, and next, they immediately retake the exact same test again as a team, coming to consensus on each question, and receive immediate feedback on their team answers. They then have the opportunity to refer to their pre-class study materials and write evidence-based appeals if they feel they can make valid arguments on questions that were marked as being incorrect. The final step in the RAP is a “lecture” (usually very short and always very specific) through which the instructor clarifies any misperceptions that become apparent during the RAP. The remainder (and the vast majority) of the class periods in each learning unit are used for in-class activities and assignments that require students to practice using the course content.

Making the shift from simply familiarizing students with course concepts to requiring that students actually use those concepts to solve problems requires changes in the roles of both instructors and students. The instructor’s primary role shifts from dispensing information to designing and managing the overall instructional process and the students’ role shifts from being passive recipients of information to one of accepting responsibility for the initial exposure to the course content, so that they will be prepared for the in-class teamwork. Changes of this magnitude do not happen automatically and, based on many faculty members’ past experience, may even seem to be dreams rather than achievable realities. They are, however, highly reliable outcomes when the four essential elements of TBL are successfully implemented. These essential elements

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