Heather Addy, Kyla Flanagan & Louise Hahn Dept. of Biological Sciences University of Calgary Team-Based Learning in Different Contexts 1

Approach to TBL: the flipped model 2

Team-based learning 3

4 A team is a group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and hold themselves mutually accountable for its achievement. Principles of TBL: Permanent teams formed by instructor Student accountability Team assignments promote learning & team development Frequent, timely feedback

Team formation:  Instructor forms teams  Ensures even distribution of student characteristics that are assets or liabilities 5

Example classroom layout for TBL (16 teams) 6

Sequence of TBL instructional activities Repeated for each major course unit (4–7 units in course) 7

Grading 8 Individual Work Learning Assessments3% Lab Assignments5% iRATs10% Learning Paragraphs/Summaries10% Midterm exam (in lab on Nov. 3)20% Final exam (cumulative)35% Team Work* tRATs12% In-class Assignments5% *Peer evaluation score influences final team work mark

Team-based learning 9 A team is a group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose and hold themselves mutually accountable for its achievement. Principles of TBL: Permanent teams formed by instructor Student accountability Team assignments promote learning & team development Frequent, timely feedback

Team assignments promote learning & team development 10 Effective assignments: truly require team interaction require teams to use course concepts to solve authentic problems or to make complex decisions allow teams to report decisions in simple form Important to provide timely feedback!

Example of team assignment 11

Student feedback on TBL: 12 “[TBL] really got me to focus on the main concepts of the topics we learned. Doing this in a team helped me approach topics from various angles that I wouldn’t have considered on my own. This expanded how I think and develop ideas.”

QFT: question formulation technique 13

The book: Make Just One Change 14

QFT background  What is it?  What does it do?  The instructor facilitates and guides this process; it might be worth it to have Timbits or bags of Werthers on hand! It’s big brainy stuff 15

The 5 main steps of QFT (see handout) 1. Instructor creates a Question Focus (like a prompt) about the topic of interest 2. Students produce as many questions as they can in response to the QF following 4 strict rules 3. Students improve their questions 4. Students prioritize their questions 5. Students use the questions 6. Reflect 16

WFT Step 1: creation of a Question Focus  Created by the instructor  QF is brief, clear in meaning, and focussed  QFs are NOT stated as a question  QFs should not convey instructor bias  Examples: Zoos are unnecessary. Clearcutting affects the ecology of a forest. Walking in nature reduces depression. 17

QFT Step 2: students produce questions  Students produce a list of their own questions in response to the Question Focus following 4 strict rules (5-7 minutes) : 1. Ask as many questions as you can 2. Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer the questions 3. Write down every question exactly as it was stated 4. Change any statement into a question 18

QFT Step 2: students produce questions cont’d (can move to previous slide)  Important to give the students time to think about the 4 rules and reflect on how they might be challenging to follow (5-7 minutes) : 19

QFT Step 3: students improve their questions (7-10 mins) 20  Define 2 broad categories of questions: Closed-ended questions: Open-ended questions:  Students label each of their (C or O, 2-3 mins ):

QFT Step 3: students improve their questions cont’d 21  Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of closed- and open-ended questions (3-4 mins)  Students practice changing a few questions from open to closed and vise-versa (3-4 minutes) :

QFT Step 4: Students prioritize their questions (5 minutes) 22  Gives students the opportunity to think more deeply about their questions: analysis and convergent thinking  Helps students assess and rank their questions according to a given priority  Instructor provides the rationale for prioritizing  Can be the most challenging part of QFT to facilitate because they must reach consensus

QFT Step 4: Students prioritize their questions (cont’d) 23  Students choose 3 questions based on the given rationale for prioritization:  Can have a second round with a different rationale to narrow to single question  Students provide rationale for their choices

QFT Step 5: Students use their questions 24  There are many ways the questions from QFT can be used in a class (see handout)  The way we use it is to help students choose a research topic for their term projects

QFT Step 5 Case study: Biology 313 (Principles of Ecology) and the QFT to generate research topics for Team Projects 25  Students are assembled into teams based on their choice of 1 of 4 QFs: Animals make foraging decisions that can be predicted Weeds are more successful than non weeds Urbanization negatively affects biodiversity Forests are global reserves for carbon storage  Top priority question is identified using QFT and 2 layers of prioritization:  Students generate: 1 testable hypothesis and 3 predictions experimental design plan the sampling schedule identify most appropriate data analysis identify equipment needed see “Team Study Design Plan” handout  Then approved by the instructor

QFT in action! 26  We will quickly practice the QFT using a Question Focus we chose for you…are you ready? Organize into teams of 5-6 Designate a scribe

QFT in action! 27  Question Focus: Beer is good for mental health.

QFT in action! 28  Generate as many questions as you can following the 4 rules in 5 minutes: Ask as many questions as you can Do not stop to discuss, judge or answer any questions Write all questions down exactly as they are stated Change all statements to questions

QFT in action! 29  Improve your questions (3 minutes): Identify questions as open or closed Change one question from open to closed and vice- versa

QFT in action! 30  Prioritize your questions (5 minutes) Choose the top 3 questions that interest you as a group From your top 3 questions, choose the top question that is testable (time permitting) Explain why you chose the question you did (time permitting)

Thank you! 31  Heather Addy  Kyla Flanagan  Louise Hahn  Make Just One Change Dan Rothstein and Luz Santana 2014