PGY-1 Pharmacy Resident
Holy Cross Hospital
Team-based learning (TBL) is a structured form of small-group learning that emphasizes student preparation out of class and application of knowledge in class. Students are organized strategically into diverse teams of 5-7 students that work together throughout the class. Before each unit or module of the course, students prepare by reading prior to class.1 TBL was originally designed by Professor Larry Michaelsen during the 1980s, in the United States of America, for use in business schools. 2 Following individual answers, students join teams and work through problems, appealing when they are incorrect. 3 TBL provided the opportunity to continue teaching in a manner that was engaging, catered for large numbers of students, provided immediate feedback, involved students in decision making, and promoted active small group and class discussions. 2 In the first class of the module, students participate in a “Readiness Assurance Process,” or RAP. Specifically, students complete a test individually (the “Individual Readiness Assurance Test,” or iRAT); and then complete the test with their group members (the “group Readiness Assurance Test,” or gRAT). Both the individual scores and the group scores contribute to the students’ grades. 1
This process motivates students by holding them accountable to themselves and one another, while introducing them to a variety of thought processes devoted to a single problem. To increase motivation and introduce a fun gaming environment, instructors often group their students into teams and have them compete on various classroom learning tasks. 3 Various teachers have found that team-based learning can be especially helpful in dealing with a number of situations that can be and often are particularly challenging for teachers. Four situations in which this is true are when teachers are faced with: larger classes, classes with a high level of student diversity, courses with extended meeting times, and courses that emphasize thinking skills. 4 Recent systematic reviews provide evidence of positive outcomes in terms of student experience and academic achievement, particularly when compared to traditional lectures. The interactive nature of TBL encourages healthcare students to develop their communication and collaboration skills, providing a valuable learning experience. 2
TBL is designed to get students actively engaged in the learning process by ensuring that most face-to-face course time is spent on Application Exercises, where teams of students work together on significant, challenging problems toward a common goal. Unlike many other teaching techniques, TBL is a highly structured, whole-course learning framework that incorporates a sequence of carefully designed readiness assurance and application activity cycles carried out by intentionally selected permanent teams, coupled with summative peer evaluation. The power of TBL comes from the integrated nature of the strategy – it is more than a collection of techniques or activities. 4
When teachers are faced with the responsibility of teaching large classes of 100 or more students and seek advice on how best to do this, they frequently get technical suggestions: get more organized, try to make your lectures lively, use more audiovisual materials, and so on. But technical changes like those do not have the ability to make a significant impact on the two biggest problems with large classes from a learning perspective: student anonymity and passivity. Teachers frequently have classes in which students are diverse in terms of key factors such as prior preparation, age, related background experiences, ethnicity, attitudes toward the subject, and so forth. Team-based learning creates conditions in which people who are very different from one another learn that they need to work together and that they can work together. They find ways to make their differences an asset rather than a liability. 3
Reference:
1. Brame, C. J. (2013). Team-based learning. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. Retrieved [12/10/2021] from https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/team-based-learning
2. Burgess, A., van Diggele, C., Roberts, C. et al. Team-based learning: design, facilitation and participation. BMC Med Educ 20, 461 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02287-y
3. Team-Based Learning. Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved [12/10/2021] from https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/Team-Based-Learning
4. Michaelsen LK, Knight AB, and Fink LD. The Value of Team-Based Learning in Particularly Challenging Teaching Situations. Stanford University. Retrieved [12/10/2021] from https://tomprof.stanford.edu/posting/474
