Team-Based LearningPedagogy:Transforming classroom Dialogue and learning

Colin K. DrummondPatrick Crago

Gary Wnek

March 22, 2013

Engineering Better Health

Topics

Page 2

Subjects of discussion

Context: Program of study One-year “Masters of Engineering and Management” Engineers building managerial and leadership skills

Skills to develop Critical thinking skills Dealing with ambiguity Self-directed learning

Student activities to build skills Team-based learning In-class “chalk talk” and “elevator pitches” Networking to build “social capital”

Employer feedback these are priorities

Program of study

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1-Year MS degree in “Engineering & Management”

Summer Fall Spring

Professional Development

Understanding People and Change in Organizations

Information Technology & Systems

Accounting, Finance & Engineering Economics

Engineering Statistics in Quality – Six Sigma

Enterprise Resource Planning in the Supply

Chain

Project Management

Product Process Design, Development and

Delivery I

Product Process Design, Development and

Delivery II

Materials & Mfg. Processes

Engineering Entrepreneurship I

Engineering Entrepreneurship II

1 Elective 1 Elective

Credit Total 12 Credit Total 15 Credit Total 15

Focus

Real-world decisions

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Problems in the “new economy” can be challenging

“The road less traveled”

Interdisciplinary problems prevailEspecially if technology is involved

Team solutions are essentialTraditional education techniques

focus on individual (not team) performance

Tomorrow’s problems unpredictableHave to train students to solve types

of problems that do not exist today

Real-world decisions

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More than 1 solution can exist for business problems

Numbers

Bounded

Directed

Individual

Words

Unbounded

Self-directed

Team

UndergraduateEngineering

SuccessfulEntrepreneur

Students must be comfortable with ‘vague’ problems Students must develop new competencies

Type

Scope

Learning

Accountability

What made you get started on this?

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Student inability to deal with ambiguity and limited data

The discovery of tools

They could recite facts based on traditional lectures, but …

Critical thinking skills were weak, so I began to wonder ….

Were my instruction methods appropriate for the outcomes I was seeking?

Were new tools needed?What was I really looking for?

Critical Thinking Skills

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Focus on three items, though all are important

Identifies, summarizes, and reformulates the situation.

Identifies critical assumptions or situational context.

Develops individual perspective, hypothesis or position.

Finds, assesses, & analyzes appropriate supporting data.

Integrates issues from other perspectives and positions.

Identifies and assesses conclusions & consequences.

Communicates effectively.

Activities in the classroom

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Cross-reference to skill development areas

Critica

l thi

nkin

g

skills

Team-based learning

Chalk talk

Elevator pitches

Learning PlansDea

ling

with

ambi

guity

Self-d

irect

ed

lear

ning

PrimarySecondary

Team-Based Learning

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A disciplined, formalized process

Key components of the process

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The three “S” model

Individual and group efforts centered on the same problem

Course concepts used to make and defend specific choices

Group work and thinking is public and shared simultaneously

Would this fly?

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Some risk involved

Prior focus on didactic learning:Conveying by lecturesInstructor-focusedAssumes professor is correct

TBL focuses on dialectic learningArt of reasoningStatements rationale requiredTeaching of how, not what

A shift to life-long learning skills

“A flying dog?”

TBL relative to other techniques

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Often confused with the case study method

Dialectic

Didactic

LearningMethod

Discussion Expertise

PeersFaculty

TraditionalEngineering

Courses

ProblemBased

Learning TeamBased

Learning

Book

CaseStudy

Method

Changes the way you prepare for class

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Pre-class work emphasized, class is about applications

Changes the way you prepare for class

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Multiple choice questions took on a new life!

1. Individual Readiness assessment: 5-10 MC questions

2. Turn in paper, and immediately convene groups to complete the Immediate Feedback (IF) form

3. Class meets together and discusses results; members of the team are asked to defend decision

Then, on to the Grand Challenge (case study)

Grand Challenge

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Case studies from real work experiences

Two-page case Students read in-class (will not have seen before) Case is related to syllabus topics and theory

One of three decisions is selected One is the real outcome Another is based on theory Sometimes theory and outcome are the same

Teams reach a consensus on “best” choice Write-up a one-page “memo to manager” Present and defend to rest of class

Grand Challenge

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Uncover failure-prone tactics

Rush to judgment – Locking in on the first solutionsNarrow look at motivations and remedies

Misuse of resources –Failing to take a systems perspectiveInadequate scenario analysis

Failure-prone tactics –Inadequate participation in decision-making Failing to uncover all concernsLimiting search for remediesPressure to “have an answer”

Some results

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Post TBL self-assessment

University of Washington CTS Instrument

Summarize Aware Develop Evidence AverageIssue Assumptions Hypothesis Based Improvement

Fall 2012 0.311 0.380 0.143 0.319 0.2887.1% 8.9% 3.1% 7.8%

Fall 2011 0.440 0.604 0.440 0.405 0.47210.3% 15.1% 10.6% 10.0%

Fall 2010 0.337 0.668 0.217 0.470 0.4238.3% 18.3% 5.4% 12.2%

Fall 2009 0.120 0.140 0.053 0.453 0.1922.8% 3.5% 1.3% 11.7%

Fall 2008 0.139 0.129 0.138 0.125 0.1333.3% 3.3% 3.3% 3.3%

Summary

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The journey has just started, really

Educational outcomes Students more engaged in class International students find peer support encouraging Graduates reflect and provide feedback

Employment Recruiters like the focus No statistical basis yet

Value IRB will cover Spring 2013 Review plan and see if collected data to test hypotheses

Reshaping Entrepreneurship Education

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Call to action

Would like to have others consider this technique

• Does this really work?• Is it fun and educational, or just fun?

Have others build a base of expertise

• How to better evaluate reasoning skills• What are the “strides and stumbles” with the large

group?

Create and share case studies