Plunge Taken

Here's what I wrote in January, 2011, as I embarked upon TBL in the classroom:

Walking into my ENGL 1311 class today, I felt as if I were entering uncharted territory. I knew what my students would do in class today and next time, and I had a pretty clear idea of what they would do next week. The week after next is still just a rough sketch, and even though I have a plan laid out on a week-by-week outline, I can only dimly see the remainder of the semester.
Of course every semester is different, an evolution and refinement of the last. But this semester is more of a revolution for me. Every class period will be completely different. I'll have to come up with new activities, new ways of tackling reading assignments, new handouts, etc. I might even need new jokes.
So today when the clock in the lower right-hand corner of my computer screen said that it was time for class, I stopped trying to plan next week's classes and went to meet my new students. I didn't do the things I did on the first day of class last semester, instead doing new things.
One thing I did was tell my students about team-based learning. They listened politely, nodding occasionally. I told them I wouldn't just talk at them like this much anymore after today. When I was finished, I asked them what they thought of team-based learning. "It sounds good," someone said hopefully, and most of them nodded agreeably.
There's no backing out now.

The First Glimmer

Here's what I wrote in August, 2010, when I first read about TBL in L. Dee Finks Creating Significant Learning Experiences:

Fink distinguishes between teaching techniques and teaching strategies:

A teaching technique is a specific teaching activity. Lecturing is a technique, as is lab work, using small groups, assigning essays, covering case studies, and so on. A teaching strategy, on the other hand, is a particular combination of learning activities in a particular sequence. The goal is to find a combination and sequence of learning activities that work together synergistically and build a high level of student energy that can be applied to the task of learning (130; Fink's emphasis).

One of the teaching techniques Fink describes is team-based learning. Most of us have divided our classes into small groups to work together on some task or another. Team-based learning is a cohesive, semester-long strategy that "transforms groups into teams and then uses the extraordinary capabilities of teams to accomplish a high level of content and application learning" (132).
One of the advantages of team-based learning is that for the most part students acquire course content outside of class (typically by reading), allowing much more class time to be devoted to application. In class, students go through a Readiness Assurance Process (individually and in teams), and then work with their teams on tasks that require them to use/apply their new knowledge. The instructor eventually assesses the students on their knowledge and ability to use it. In the course of a semester, students may go through several cycles of knowledge acquisition, readiness assurance, team tasks, and assessment.
Note to self: check out http://www.teambasedlearning.org/ ASAP.