Learning & Teaching

Title of case study	Team-Based Learning
School/Subject	CoSS/Chemistry
Lecturer(s):	Cosma Gottardi
Course:	Chemistry 2Y (CHEM2002 and CHEM2017)
Student Level:	First and second year undergraduates
Class size:	150 (80-90 attending)
Location:	Online / distance & On campus/in person

 

Brief summary

Cosma uses Team-Based Learning within his Chemistry course, which also involves a form of flipped classroom. This provides students with the opportunity to work individually and then as a team to see the value of working together. This set up also allows a chance for the teaching staff to see where students are struggling with that week’s learning and to focus on that for the second half of the class.

 

Objectives

I was keen to work with this active learning method as it is not often used within a chemistry setting. I have a great interest in teaching, this provided a new, innovative and exciting way to teach within the classroom. I was also keen to make the learning tie-in with the graduate attributes of the university, specifically effective communicators within this form of active learning. Since the group undertaking this class is a mixed cohort of chemistry degree students and others, I feel this was a great way to get different degrees mixing and learning from one another.

 

What is done?

For the team-based learning set up, students are asked to watch the pre-recorded lectures at home before coming to class. The class work, team-based learning, is then designed to check their understanding of the class topic covered that week through an individual test, and then the same test with their classmates. Once in class, each student completes an IRAT (individual readiness assurance test). These questions are multiple-choice and they receive no feedback on their answers – just an overall score. Following this, students are put into groups of 6-8 and perform the same test as a team, the TRAT (team readiness assurance test). To do this, I use scratch cards for the answers. The final step, Adaptative Application, builds on the class understanding, which has been tested in the previous steps. This gives time for a small revision lecture on the areas where the class generally has struggled, as evident from their answers. The class size was around 150, with 80-90 students attending each of the in-person sessions. Due to the time limit of 50 minutes for each class, there were usually only a couple of questions put into the test, especially if they were exam style questions. The IRAT takes about 10mins, the TRAT takes a bit longer and then time is needed for the adaptive application process at the end, usually provided via a mini-lecture. At the end of all the sessions, the teams who received an average score of 80%+ were given a box of chocolates.

I have created my own electronic resources for use within the TRAT of the team-based learning exercise (link below). Titled ‘Instant-Feedback Online Scratchcard’, this provides a system for use with both individual and team aspects of this method, allowing for a number of questions to be inserted, options of A, B, C, D and automatic scoring for correct answers provided. This page does not take any personal information and is therefore compliant with GDPR. The site is free to access, with permission from myself, so please contact me for further information and access. I have often had to conduct these sessions in lecture theatres, and while a room set up for team learning with tables would be better, it is still workable in this setting. Additionally, it is useful to have either a small number of students or staff members to help with the set up and clear up of the session.

 

What works well?

From having used this method of learning over a few years, I have observed students having good interaction and conversations with one another. Students often are very engaged with their learning and find value in learning from their peers and working with one another to work out the correct answer to questions.

This is a tried and tested method of learning, with a large amount of academic work having been published around it. It helps to enhance student learning and gives them opportunities to value the contributions of other people.

 

Benefits

Students

Staff

Students enjoyed getting examples of exam questions in the session that were then reviewed by the lecturer. The online pre-recorded lectures were good for engagement. Knowing they were being tested in class gave students a reason to take notes and focus on the lectures. Students enjoyed working together and the discussions that came from this. This also allowed them to work with new people, which they enjoyed. Students saw the value of teamwork as they saw improvement within their scoring from the IRAT to the TRAT. They liked the fact that this was a different way of teaching and a change from the usual set up they were receiving in other classes. Class feedback – overall, 80% provided positive feedback about this.

A welcome challenge, enjoyable for staff. Gives a better chance for student interaction, and speaking with them as they discuss answers in groups. Allows staff to learn how students approach questions differently. Makes staff more aware of how they write test questions, and exam questions, after seeing how students respond. Gives a chance for teaching staff to see where students have struggled that week with the information. Exam grades increased by 5%.

 

Challenges            

Students

Staff

As the videos were online, some found they were too long and didn't have time to watch the full video; this led to some students missing these sessions as they felt they didn't know enough for the class. For some students, the socialising aspect of this was difficult. I provided all students a sheet to fill in before this stating what was happening and gave people the options for: check disability record, sit with a friend, or miss and catch up with the questions once uploaded online after class.

This does require time – putting lectures up in advance. Needs organisation – and really helpful to have other staff to help with set up and after class, or even a couple of student volunteers – does not always happen. The rooms provided are not always laid out best for this type of learning. Often tiered lecture theatres – a flat room with tables would be better.

 

What did you learn?

I have learned that students do value this type of learning, and how much students value going over exam style questions in class. However, they did request that the videos were put up the week before the in-person class, rather than same week. In the future, I want to ensure I give an explanation as to why I am using this method of teaching and draw a link to the graduate attributes. Additionally, I would like to record mini summary recordings of each lecture, so students who are behind can get the key points and catch up quickly and then come to the class.

 

What advice would you give to others?

This is a very transferable activity across different schools and subjects within the university. There is a lot of literature available online to give an outline as to how to undertake this in different courses. This is an activity which is not too difficult; lecture recordings take up time, but can be re-used, or parts reused each year, adding a new introduction each time instead of re-recording.

 

References

Gottardi, C. (no date). Instant feedback online scratchcard (for Team Based Learning. https://tbl.cgottardi.com - link to the online resources created by Dr Gottardi during the pandemic for use within classes. If you would like access or further information, please contact Dr Cosma Gottardi: cosma.gottardi@glasgow.ac.uk