Team-Based Learning (TBL) for effective student teams
- What is this all about?
- How is this method implemented?
- What makes it work?
- Why do we use Team-Based Learning in entrepreneurship courses?
- How do the tests count towards assessment?
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What is this all about?
The Entrepreneurial Enterprises and Entrepreneurial Commercialisation for New Ventures courses at City West use the "Team-Based Learning" method developed by Professor Larry Michaelsen. This is a well-established method that has been used for more than 20 years, mainly in health education. It is soundly underpinned by theory and empirically-grounded practice, and there is a significant body of literature supporting its effectiveness. The Team-Based Learning Collaborative (TBLC) provides a rich source of information on this method, and organises an annual conference.
This is a structured approach for collaborative learning, where students learn material in advance of a teaching session. At the start of the session, they take a multiple-choice test on the prescribed content, then follow this by completing the same multiple-choice test as a team, using "scratch and win" cards to provide immediate feedback.
This creates a motivational framework in which students build team interactions and their understanding of other team members, resulting in more productive teamwork. The multiple-choice tests are supported by a number of other activities to build productive teams.
This is the first application of this method in entrepreneurship in Australia, and the second internationally in this field.
How is this method implemented?
There are four major components to the the implementation of Team-Based Learning in selected undergraduate entrepreneurship courses. Each of these helps students to develop teamwork skills, and these components work together to help to build a good teamwork culture.
1. Multiple Choice Tests
The foundation of the Team-Based Learning method is a series of multiple-choice tests. The idea is that you learn course materials that are going to be covered in a particular session. You are tested (using a multiple choice test) before the session, and not after. The rationale is that you first learn the materials, and have your learning confirmed through the testing process.
What makes this process work is that, at the start of a class, you first do your individual test. You then do the test (with the same questions) in your team, using a "scratchie-type" team answer card that shows the correct answer. This gives you and your team immediate feedback, so that you learn very quickly how each team member contributes to your team getting the correct answer for a question. This activity is a very powerful way to develop positive teamwork dynamics.
When teams have finished, the questions are reviewed in the whole group. This means that the lecture becomes a class discussion of points that might have not been well understood. This discussion replaces the normal lecture session. This process is repeated five times during the delivery of these courses.
More ... See the page that explains how the multiple-choice tests work.
Even more ... See photos of how the multiple-choice tests are implemented, as well as comments from students.
2. Teambuilding classroom exercises
During the lecture/seminar sessions, students carry out classroom exercises in their teams to clarify course content, and to work on their team project. These exercises reinforce the dynamics created in the multiple-choice test process.
3. Team member feedback to improved teamwork skills
Students are given the chance to provide constructive feedback to their team members on their contribution to the way that the team runs, and suggestions on how they can improve.
4. Poster Plans for immediate feedback on major team assessments
Teams prepare their major report as a Poster Plan that is presented at a review session where, in their teams, students comment on the work that other teams have done and receive feedback from others. This exercise reinforces the teamwork culture that students have developed during this course.
What makes it work?
Team-Based Learning gets results by engaging students with the course. This is done by combining individual work with small group discussion and discussion in the whole class, and by maintaining team membership for the duration of the course.
Firstly, it promotes ongoing individual accountability, as students need to prepare for their class tests, and it promotes team accountability as the team has to produce specific answers to the class tests, to the exercises, and to the project.
Secondly, students do work in teams that meet the following specifications:
- they work on significant problems that relate directly to the course and to the project
- individuals and teams work on the same problem, case or question
- individuals and teams use course knowledge to make specific choices and decisions, and
- In most cases, individuals and teams report their choices and decisions simultaneously
In addition, teams are maintained for the duration of the whole course, as research shows that it takes more than 20 hours for productive team development to occur through the process of "forming, norming, storming and performing".
Why do we use Team-Based Learning in entrepreneurship courses?
The Team-Based Learning approach was developed by Professor L. Michaelsen, University of Central Missouri, over 20 years ago, and has been implemented in many universities, and in many fields of study. A great deal of evaluation has shown that this method results in improved student learning.
Entrepreneurship courses are particularly challenging because they require the integration of a great deal of information as well as knowledge about different aspects of management. This means that a successful outcome (in terms of a professional project report) requires contributions from a range of different perspectives that can be provided by the members of the project team. In other words, successful entrepreneurship needs good teamwork.
This is reflected in practice, where research has shown that venture capital financiers place more value on the quality of the entrepreneurial team, and its ability to work together to build and manage a strong business, than on the quality of the business idea.
This means that a method that improves team dynamics and productivity will improve student learning and will produce a better course outcome. Student feedback shows that this team-based learning approach results in greater student engagement and satisfaction, and improved learning outcomes.
In particular, the Team-Based Learning test results (as shown below for one of our classes) demonstrate clearly that the team consistently gets better results than the individuals in the team.
How do the tests count towards assessment?
The five multiple-choice tests together make up the first assignment for each of these courses. Your own mark is calculated as a combination of your individual test points, and your team test points (over all of the tests for the course).
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