A Toe in the Water, Or, Beware the Under-Toad: Assessing the Benefits and Pitfal
A Toe in the Water, Or, Beware the Under-Toad: Assessing the Benefits and Pitfalls of TBL-Light
Wendy Ashall
Outline
The team-based learning (TBL) literature makes wide-reaching claims regarding the benefits of adopting this pedagogical approach: improved learning, increased levels of engagement and participation, decreased social loafing, are promised alongside the ease of its applicability and suitability across disciplines (Espey, 2017, 2018; Lehmann-Willenbrock, 2017; Michaelsen, 2004; Michaelsen & Sweet, 2008, 2011; Stein et al., 2015; Sweet and Michaelsen, 2012; Travis et al., 2016; and Wilson, 2014). While the approach has been used extensively in schools, colleges and universities, both in the UK and the USA, a mixed picture emerges regarding whether TBL leads to improved student satisfaction (Travis et al., 2016). Nor does the literature address in sufficient detail the practicalities involved, nor does it assess the usefulness of the various ICT options available, the suitability of TBL for foundation year teaching, or its appropriateness for HE students with learning needs, disabilities or mental health issues such as anxiety. The TBL literature presents a somewhat rosy picture, stressing the benefits without going into much detail regarding any pitfalls encountered in implementing what, for some, may be a radically different approach to learning and teaching within higher education (HE).
The aim of this chapter is not to address the need identified by Travis et al. (2016) for more rigorous and scientific studies to produce evidence of the benefits of TBL, nor to provide a detailed review of the TBL literature as this is provided elsewhere (see, for example, Espey, 2017, 2018; Stein et al., 2015), but rather to provide a concise but honest ‘how to’ guide for practitioners interested in trialling TBL combined with Poll Everywhere, and an exploration of how we might assess its suitability for foundation teaching, based on the data a practitioner will have to hand. With these aims in mind, I briefly summarise the process and principles involved in TBL, drawing on a limited section of the literature. Next, I provide an overview of the context within which I trialled TBL and the rationale for the approach taken, before proving an account of what worked well and what worked less well, and how we overcame problems encountered along the way. I finish by including my early thoughts on the difficulties involved in assessing the usefulness of TBL for social science foundation teaching, but also some of my concerns which are not covered in the literature.
What is Team-Based Learning?
Team approaches to learning and teaching have a long history, with some identifying direct descent from the work of John Dewey (1922) due to his focus on cooperation, with productivity resulting from dependence (Betta, 2015: 69). More recent approaches can trace their origins to the Johns Hopkins Team Learning Project, at John Hopkins University (Slavin, 1978), and th