TBLC News

TBLC 2016 Meeting Highlights: Leslie Fall and Mike McCabe

2015-12-09T16:56:00.002-05:00

The 15th Annual TBLC Conference is just around the corner, and we would like you to get to know our keynote speakers! We will be hosting Dr. Leslie Fall and Mike McCabe as our keynote speakers this year, and we hope you enjoy their presentations.

Leslie Fall: Curricular Integration through Collaboration: Bringing the Basic Sciences Back to Everyday Medical Practice

Dr. Leslie Fall is the co-founder and Executive Director of MedU. Founded in 2006, MedU is a mission-driven organization dedicated to delivering the best health care education through collaborative development and research into innovative high-impact virtual teaching and learning methods. The majority of US and Canadian medical schools subscribe to at least one of MedU’s award-winning virtual patient courses, which have over 40,000 unique users per year and over 1,000,000 case sessions completed annually. She is currently building courses on MedU Science and Diagnostic Excellence, which focus on improving the integration of basic science into clinical education for the purpose of improving excellence in clinical decision-making and patient care.

Dr. Fall is also a Professor of Pediatrics (Hospital Medicine) and Associate Dean for Faculty Development at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. A Geisel graduate herself, she has completed a medical education fellowship at Michigan State University and the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program for women. Dr. Fall is an inaugural member of Geisel’s Academy of Master Educators. In 2013 she co-led the launch of Geisel’s successful curricular adoption of iPads for both teaching and learning. She has been both locally and nationally involved in the continuum of medical student, resident and faculty education throughout her career, particularly through the lens of expertise development. Her innovative approach to teaching clinical skills using a developmental coaching paradigm, co-developed with Dr. Kimberly Gifford, has resulted in numerous invited national workshops, visiting professorships and recent publications.

Leslie lives in Hanover, NH with her husband and three children.

Mike McCabe: TopGun: The Carrier Deck Mentality

As a leader, Mike McCabe oversaw some of the deepest technology shifts and changes at the US Navy. He ensured thousands of military personnel would be ready for these transformations and managed the budgets that supported these key innovations and changes.

Mike’s career is the stuff of dreams. As a child, he could be often found moving down the hallway with his five model aircraft carriers. When he became Director of Air Warfare at the Pentagon, Mike McCabe oversaw mega budgets of $31 billion per year in resources to support over 4000 aircraft, 12,000 naval aviators 60,000 personnel, and of course, 12 full-size aircraft carriers.

Mike’s passion for leadership took root during his term as an instructor at the renowned Navy Fighter Weapons School, aka TOPGUN.

Blending his extensive command experience and TOPGUN best-practice, Mike McCabe has created an approach to leadership that is compelling, current and truly one of a kind.

In 2005, Mike retired from the Navy, and his unique leadership found new home as the President and COO of a commercial airline. In that arena, he successfully employed the same tactics and approaches he honed in his naval career. As a speaker and a leadership consultant, Mike is dedicated to translating his experience for use in varied and unique organizations.

To register for the 2016 Meeting, please click here. We hope to see you in March!

TBLC Call for Volunteers

2015-10-29T12:07:00.004-04:00

Build your network, your expertise, and your profile by becoming an active member of the Team-Based Learning Collaborative! Membership in the TBLC gives you access to a world-wide network of active and like-minded educators. Beyond that, joining one of the many committees helping to build TBL internationally is an excellent way to become an active, contributing member of the organization.

The TBLC Steering Committee invites you to become more involved with the Collaborative. There are several areas in which volunteer help would be welcomed and much appreciated. If you have an interest in any of the committees listed below, please let us know!

Membership Committee - The Membership Committee develops methods and programs for active membership recruitment and retention. The Committee's current focus is on writing and editing three or four newsletters each year and developing and monitoring of the new TBLC website.

Editorial Board – The Editorial Board reviews all resources, modules and other publications that are submitted to the TBLC for endorsement by the organization. The Editorial Board consists of a Chair and several committee members responsible for the process of peer reviewing/publishing TBL modules. Additional volunteers assist with peer review of newly submitted TBL modules.

Scholarship Committee – The Scholarship Committee is responsible for fostering, enhancing and encouraging the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning within the TBLC. This Committee aids members in developing individual and collaborative research endeavors to measure processes and outcomes associated with TBL, and promotes the publishing of scholarly materials related to TBL. Annual responsibilities also include peer reviewing grant proposals submitted to the TBLC for funding.

Educational Development Committee – The Educational Development Committee is responsible for obtaining, evaluating, developing, and disseminating TBL best practices and materials about TBL to be used by the membership and for recruitment. The Committee also plays a major role in organizing the TBLC's regional Fly-in workshops each fall.

Annual Program Committee – The Annual Program Committee organizes annual TBLC meetings, such as identifying the meeting theme; selecting keynote and closing session speakers; reviewing and selecting proposals for workshops, oral sessions, and posters; implementing changes suggested by TBLC members; and performing other functions as needed to ensure the success of annual meetings. This committee consists of the Chair, Past-Chair, Co-chair/Future Chair (position available), Treasurer, and representatives from the Faculty Development Committee and Scholarship Committee. Additional members of the Committee may be appointed by the Committee Chair.

Finance Committee – The Finance Committee, chaired by the Treasurer, consists of at least two additional TBLC members, and is responsible for oversight of all financial matters of the Collaborative, and for the development of the annual Collaborative financial report and respective budgets.

There are many opportunities to serve the TBLC. Doing so helps foster international-collaborative relationships among like-minded individuals, and may well enhance your professional standing and opportunities.

Please contact Danielle at danielle@tblcadmin.org if you would like to volunteer for a TBLC committee position.

New Cases in the TBLC Case Bank

2015-10-23T13:34:00.003-04:00

The Team-Based Learning Collaborative resource bank has been updated with 9 new TBL teaching modules! When you log into the Member Only section of the TBLC website, click on the Resource Bank to view the TBL modules available and to access these new modules. Below is a listing of the newly added TBL teaching modules:

Title: Units and Measurement
Author: Lorrie Comeford

Title: Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumping
Author: Judy Currey

Title: Social Cognition, Social Perception, and Social Psychology and the Law Unit
Author: Jamie S. Hughes

Title: Pathophysiology of Stroke
Author: Parto Khansari

Title: Leadership in Sport
Author: Karla Kubitz

Title: Personality in Sport and Exercise
Author: Karla Kubitz

Title: Personality Disorder
Author: Ruth Levine

Title: Large Animal Urinary Surgery
Author: Erin Malone

Title: Drug Discovery and Classification
Author: Michael H. Nelson

If you have any difficulty accessing these resources, please contact support@tblcadmin.org.

TBLC 2016 - Call for Poster and Oral Presentations

2015-10-14T10:29:00.000-04:00

The Team-Based Learning Collaborative (TBLC) is a group dedicated to supporting educators and trainers from a variety of educational & professional development settings that have implemented or wish to implement team-based learning (TBL). Our recent conferences have included educators from a broad range of backgrounds, including medical education, other health-related disciplines, business and social science disciplines, graduate and undergraduate education, professional schools, and K-12 education. We have benefited from everyone’s experience and wisdom as we strive to share teaching resources, mentor one another, and promote the dissemination, evaluation, and scholarship of team-based learning.

We invite you to the 15th Annual Conference on Team-Based Learning, which will be held March 3-5, 2016 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with pre-meeting workshops on March 3, 2016.

You are invited to submit poster abstracts on any topics relevant to team-based learning. We are asking for abstracts for three different tracks.

Tracks include the following:

Fundamentals track – for novices to TBL to help them learn the essential skills to get a TBL program started at their own institution. An example might include a workshop on facilitation techniques, or “How to Write Good Readiness Assurance Tests”

Innovations track – for those who are experienced with TBL to provide information about experiences with particular types of courses or learners or new or innovative techniques. An example might include a poster titled “A TBL Science Course for 9th Graders” or a workshop titled “How to Start a Web-Based TBL Course”.

Research/Scholarship track – for those interested in presenting findings from educational research or research studies about TBL. Research submissions may be from descriptive, semi-quantitative (e.g., survey results), or quantitative (e.g., experimental) research. An example might be a workshop entitled “Getting a research program started in your TBL course” or it could be an oral presentation in which you present research that you have done such as “Evidence of standardized test performance gains in Pharmacy students following implementation of a TBL curriculum”.

Click here to view a sample Poster Abstract

Please visit www.TBLCAbstract.org to submit your abstract.

Please note that the first time you enter the site, you will be required to create a user profile.

Deadline for submission: November 15, 2015.

While we are open to all TBL-related submissions, we are particularly eager to receive submissions focused on non-medical applications of TBL. We look forward to receiving your submissions and hope to see you in Albuquerque in 2016!

TBLC Workshop Abstracts Reminder

2015-09-23T12:20:00.000-04:00

Dear Colleagues,

The deadline for workshop abstracts is drawing close. As a reminder, workshops are being accepted in three tracks - Fundamentals, Innovations & Applications, and Scholarship & Research.

Proposals are to be emailed to danielle@tblcadmin.org by September 30, 2015.

Workshops will be accepted within one of three tracks:

Fundamentals Track
Innovations & Applications track
Scholarship & Research Track

Fundamentals Track:

Learners will acquire knowledge and skills for implementation of effective TBL. Target audience: educators with less than 3 years experience using TBL or educators who want to become more effective in practicing the essentials of TBL.

Innovations and Applications Track:

Learners will acquire knowledge and skills for using TBL in specific educational settings or in a specific academic discipline. Creative innovations that remain consistent with TBL principles are encouraged.

Target audience: educators who are currently using TBL and who desire to improve their practice by interacting with those in similar educational roles, disciplines, or settings.

Scholarship and Research Track:

Learners will acquire knowledge and skills to critically evaluate the educational process and outcomes of TBL. Workshops emphasizing either qualitative or quantitative research methods are preferred.

Target audience: educators who want to study the TBL process and communicate findings in a scholarly manner, e.g. peer-reviewed publications.

For which of the following tracks is your workshop intended?

Requirements to be included in workshop proposal

Title of workshop
Organizer and co-leaders: for each person who will facilitate the workshop, submit name, degree, institution, email, phone, and qualifications for leading the workshop. Designate one person to communicate with the program committee. Please note that only registered participants will be listed within the final Conference Program.
Purpose and rationale of the workshop (Workshops proposed for fundamentals track ONLY: Submit learners’ evaluations of a previous workshop you have done on this topic.)
Specific learning objectives of the workshop (behavioral)
Intended audience
Format: the method that leaders will use during the workshop; include description of how essential elements of TBL will be incorporated.
Detailed schedule of workshop activities, with each segment in minutes, including breaks (assume total duration of 120 minutes).
Advance assignments for participants (optional)
Products and materials: what each participant will receive and keep
Assessment: provide the instrument learners will use to evaluate the workshop
Audio-visual requirements: provide a list. NOTE: This will be confirmed by the Admin Planning Team as to availability.
Number of participants: provide the maximum number you will accept

Note: The entire proposal must less than be 2 pages (12-point Arial font, single-spaced) and in MS Word. All other document types will be returned.

Thank you,
TBLC Admin Team

TBLC Regional Workshop Reminder

2015-09-16T12:14:00.000-04:00

Hello Colleagues,

As a reminder, TBLC will be holding a regional workshop in Seattle, Washington on October 10, 2015. The hotel block will be closed on September 18. If you plan on attending, please reserve your hotel room before this date!

This all day session will offer 2 workshops:

TBL 101

This is the single best introduction to TBL. It is conducted in a TBL format, participants must prepare ahead, take an IRAT, and engage actively with their assigned team members. The structure, process, and essential characteristics of an effective TBL module are emphasized.

Creating an Effective TBL Module

This workshop is for educators who have completed the introductory workshop on Team-Based Learning™ - TBL 101. The entire workshop is conducted in a TBL format and there is an advance assignment.

Faculty Instructors:

Michele Clark
Chris Burns

Click here for more details

Thank you,
TBLC Admin Team

TBLC Call for Research Roundup Reminder

2015-09-10T10:08:00.000-04:00

Hello colleagues,

One section in the fall newsletter will be called "Research Roundup" and will consist of articles about TBL written in the last 2 years by members of the TBLC community. We are asking you to send us any article(s) utilizing TBL in which you have been an author. Please send the citation (authors, year, title, journal, volume, and pages) and a one to three sentence long explanation of the project. This is a wonderful opportunity to disseminate your article to others who are interested in learning about what you are doing with TBL, as well as publicize your findings to those are outside of your field of expertise!

As a reminder, the deadline for the Research Roundup is September 18, 2015. Please email your submissions to support@tblcadmin.org with the subject heading "Research Roundup".

Our second section in the newsletter will be called "Interest in Collaboration." If you are interested in collaborating with others, please send us your name, email address, the topic you are interested in collaborating with others on, a draft research question if you have one (not critical), your discipline, the design (qualitative or quantitative), and who you would like to collaborate with (e.g. another discipline, someone with expertise in a specific design) and any other information you feel is pertinent.

The deadline for the Interest in Collaboration will also be September 18, 2015. If you are interested, please send all requested information to support@tblcadmin.org with the subject heading "Interest in Collaboration".

Thank you,

TBLC Admin Team

TBLC Call for Research Grant Applications

2015-09-04T10:02:00.001-04:00

PURPOSE

The TBLC supports and encourages research and scholarship in team-based learning. To help its members participate in opportunities that provide educational scholarship, the TBLC will provide funding to initiate new educational research or evaluation proposals in 2016-2017. Project budgets of $2,000-$5,000 may be requested, with single institution projects to be awarded at low end, and collaborative multi-institution projects at the high end. Two to four awards are anticipated, depending on the quantity and quality of proposed projects. The TBLC seeks to promote collaborative projects across institutions, and seeks to stimulate the development of a community of educational scholars. Project proposals must be consistent with published criteria for educational scholarship and provide additional opportunities for others to build upon this work.

ELIGIBILITY

TBLC members from all TBLC member institutions are eligible to submit a proposal. Applicants may submit only one proposal.

TIMELINE

Application Deadline: December 1, 2015

Announcement of Awards: March 4, 2016 (at the Annual TBLC Meeting in Albuquerque, NM)

Upon completion of the project the Principal Investigator will be expected to present the project results at an annual meeting of the TBLC. All publications, presentations and/or products resulting from this project must acknowledge the TBLC as a sponsor of the work.

BUDGET

Allowed Expenses:

Administrative, technical, or statistical support to carry out project
Research supplies & expenses (e.g., survey instruments, duplication, mailings)
Communication between participants (e.g., web/phone conference)
Travel required to conduct the study

Not Allowed:

Faculty salaries and benefits
Travel to attend the TBLC meeting to present project results
Indirect costs (Facilities & Administration)

QUESTIONS

All inquires and communications should be addressed to the TBLC Scholarship Committee Chair at support@tblcadmin.org.

TBL Research Grants ~ Submission Instructions

Applications must be submitted electronically as a single PDF document by 5:00 pm Eastern time on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 to support@tblcadmin.org.

Cover page must include:
a. Name of applicant(s) and affiliated TBLC school(s)
b. Project title
c. Contact information for project leader (mailing address, telephone, fax, e-mail)
d. Institutional grant/development officer to whom payment will be made (name, title, address, phone, fax and e-mail).

Proposal narrative must be typed with 12 point font, 1 inch margins, and should not exceed 5 single spaced typed pages including all text, tables, and figures. Include the following subheadings:
a. Statement of the Problem
b. Review of Pertinent Literature
c. Methodology
d. Anticipated Outcomes (e.g., educational impact, learning outcomes)
e. Plan for Dissemination of Project Outcomes (regionally, nationally, and/or internationally). This should include a statement of your intent to present your work at the annual TBLC meeting within 2 years of the award start date.
f. Project Timeline (not to exceed 12 months). Start date should be no later than September 1, 2016.
g. Budget, including itemized costs
h. Budget justification

Additional information (not included in the 5 page limit):
a. Biographical sketches of key personnel (required, max 2 pages each). Please include relevant education, training & experience, skills and/or list durable educational materials/publications that demonstrate knowledge/skill relevant to the proposed study; list any other education grant support.
b. Literature Cited (required, max 1 page).
c. Optional letters of support from any key participants or institutional support personnel, stating their commitment to the project.

If the proposed research will involve human subjects, a letter of approval from the host Institutional Review Board stating that the project is approved or that approval was not necessary will be required prior to funding of an approved proposal.

PROGRESS AND FINAL REPORTS

The project director will be required to submit two progress reports. An interim report will be due 6 months after the project start date, indicating progress to date, obstacles and solutions, preliminary results, etc. A final report will be due within 60 days of project completion, including a final progress report of findings and dissemination activities, copies of materials developed, and final budget report.

Connect with the TBLC Admin Team

2015-09-03T10:54:00.004-04:00

The TBLC Admin team has grown. To better support your membership needs it may be helpful to know our members and what they do for TBLC.

Julie K. Hewett, CMP
Association Manager

Julie has been supporting TBLC for over 7 years in many different ways. Currently, she is responsible for Board and Committee support and conference management. Julie will continue to oversee the rest of the management team to support the overall needs of the Association.

Danielle Inscoe-Lively
Account Manager, Membership Support, Communications Manager

Danielle’s role with TBLC will be as the first point of member contact whether by phone or email. She will be helping to manage the day-to-day operations of the Collaborative and will be available to answer questions regarding memberships and upcoming Association activities. Danielle also manages the social media aspect of TBLC. She helps create posts to get the word out about what goes on within the organization.

Leah Mattox
Financial Manager

Leah is currently responsible for payment processing for TBLC. She handles all follow-up associated with membership dues collection, conference registrations, and any other fee processing that may be needed.

Kyle Hewett
IT Manager, Conference Logistics

Kyle will be providing TBLC with his technical expertise in server and website maintenance. He will be working behind the scenes with the Website Committee to evaluate the current website as well as work to improve the services it provides.

Ashleigh Adkins
Graphic Designer

Ashleigh creates graphics for the association while also handling any of the marketing needs that may arise.

Adam Zeigler
Website Manager

Adam ensures the website for TBLC is always up to date while also helping get new content posted as it becomes available.

How to Connect with the Team:

TBLC
c/o JulNet Solutions, LLC
1404 1/2 Adams Avenue
Huntington, WV 25704

Phone: 304 720 3299
Fax: 304 523 9701

Email:
Julie Hewett: julie@tblcadmin.org
Danielle Inscoe-Lively: danielle@tblcadmin.org
Leah Mattox: leah@tblcadmin.org
Kyle Hewett: khewett@tblcadmin.org
Ashleigh Adkins: ashleigh@tblcadmin.org
Adam Zeigler: adam@tblcadmin.org

When in doubt? support@tblcadmin.org

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TBLearning
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamBasedLearning

TBLC-Affiliated International Conference - "Leading Educational Change"

2015-08-21T13:37:00.002-04:00

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce that the first TBLC-affiliated International Conference will take place on Wednesday 21st October 2015 at the University of Bradford in the UK.

The conference will take the theme of Leading Educational Change. We are delighted that both Professor Shirley Alexander, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Technology, Sydney and Dr Michael Nelson, President Elect of the Team Based Learning Collaborative and Department Chair for Pharmaceutical Studies at Regis University, Colorado will be joining us to deliver the keynote and chair the presentation session respectively.

We are offering both a fundamentals track for those new to Team Based Learning (TBL) and one for people with some understanding or experience of TBL called Beyond the Basics. For further details check our provisional programme.

Please submit your abstract for either a 15 minute oral presentation or a poster presentations by Friday 4th September.

Tickets cost £90 early bird/£125 standard (from 1st September)

BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW

Please direct any queries to Beck McCarter: r.m.mcarter@bradford.ac.uk

Please feel free to circulate this invitation to other colleagues at your institution and throughout your networks.

TBLC Call for Workshop Abstracts

2015-08-19T16:47:00.000-04:00

Dear Colleagues,

The Team Based Learning Collaborative extends a warm welcome to join them for their 15th annual meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 3-5, 2016 at the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town.

Abstracts are currently welcomed for Workshop presentation formats.

Workshops will be accepted within one of three tracks:

Fundamentals Track
Innovations & Applications track
Scholarship & Research Track

Title of workshop
Organizer and co-leaders: for each person who will facilitate the workshop, submit name, degree, institution, email, phone, and qualifications for leading the workshop. Designate one person to communicate with the program committee. Please note that only registered participants will be listed within the final Conference Program.
Purpose and rationale of the workshop (Workshops proposed for fundamentals track ONLY: Submit learners’ evaluations of a previous workshop you have done on this topic.)
Specific learning objectives of the workshop (behavioral)
Intended audience
Format: the method that leaders will use during the workshop; include description of how essential elements of TBL will be incorporated.
Detailed schedule of workshop activities, with each segment in minutes, including breaks (assume total duration of 120 minutes).
Advance assignments for participants (optional)
Products and materials: what each participant will receive and keep
Assessment: provide the instrument learners will use to evaluate the workshop
Audio-visual requirements: provide a list. NOTE: This will be confirmed by the Admin Planning Team as to availability.
Number of participants: provide the maximum number you will accept

Proposals are to be email to danielle@tblcadmin.org by September 30, 2015 Note: The entire proposal must less than be 2 pages (12-point Arial font, single-spaced) and in MS Word. All other document types will be returned.

Connect With TBLC on Social Media

2015-08-13T14:53:00.000-04:00

Dear Colleagues,

Stay up to date with all of the latest TBLC news and meeting updates by subscribing to TBLC on social media! TBLC can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Please see details below!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamBasedLearning
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TBLearning
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Teambased-Learning-8118370

For updates on the upcoming 15th Annual TBLC Meeting, which will be in Albuquerque, New Mexico on March 2-4, 2016, please visit www.teambasedlearning.org

Join us for the 2015 TBLC Regional Workshop in Seattle, Washington on October 10, 2015!

Thank you, TBLC Admin Team

Call for Research Roundup

2015-07-30T13:49:00.006-04:00

Hello members of TBLC –

We would like to announce that our fall newsletter will focus on research! The decision to do so is the result of our TBLC survey taken at the 14th annual TBLC conference held in Florida. Our Survey informed us of two important points:

1.) a large percentage of members are interested in learning about articles and research studies being completed in our collaborative and
2.) Members want to consult among other members for partnership in research. We are hoping the fall newsletter will provide information on both of these areas.

One section in the newsletter will be called ‘Research Roundup’ and will consist of articles about TBL written in the last 2 years by members of the TBLC community. We are asking you to send us any article(s) utilizing TBL in which you have been an author. Please send the citation (authors, year, title, journal, volume, and pages) and a one to three sentence long explanation of the project. The deadline for submission is September 18, 2015. This will be a wonderful opportunity to disseminate your article to others who are interested in learning about what you are doing with TBL, as well as publicize your findings to those are outside of your field of expertise! Please send all submissions to support@tblcadmin.org with the subject heading “Research Roundup” Additionally, if you have found a particularly good article on TBL that you are not an author of, we are planning on putting a bibliography page on our website with these articles. Please feel free to send us the citation (authors, year, title, journal, volume, and pages).

Our second section in the newsletter will be called ‘Interest in Collaboration.’ If you are interested in collaborating with others, we will need you to send us your name, email address, the topic you are interested in collaborating with others on, a draft research question if you have one (not critical), your discipline, the design (qualitative or quantitative), and who you would like to collaborate with (e.g. another discipline, someone with expertise in a specific design) and any other information you feel is pertinent.

The deadline for this will also be no later than September 18, 2015. Please send all submissions to support@tblcadmin.org with the subject heading “Interest in Collaboration” We look forward to hearing about what research our members have been involved in and identifying members who are interested in collaborating to increase the presence of TBL in the literature!

TBLC 2015 Regional Workshop - TBL 101 & Creating Modules

2015-07-29T23:08:00.002-04:00

Please join us in October for TBLC Regional Workshop!

TBL 101 and Creating Modules.

Where HILTON SEATTLE AIRPORT & CONFERENCE CENTER
17620 INTERNATIONAL BLVD,
Seattle, Washington 98188-4001, USA

Session details can be found here: View Event Summary

TBLC Regional Workshop Opportunities

2015-05-13T15:25:00.002-04:00

Dear Colleagues,

There is limited space remaining for the TBL 101 and Creating an Effective TBL Module workshops, which will be offered at the 19th Annual IAMSE (International Association of Medical Science Educators) Meeting this summer on Saturday, June 13th, 2015 from 8:30 am to 3:15 pm Eastern Time. These workshops will be co-presented by Sandy Cook and Kevin Krane. These workshops can be registered for independently of the normal conference registration. For more information, please visit http://www.iamseconference.org.

In case you can’t make it, the TBLC is hosting a regional workshop on Saturday, October 10th, 2015 in Seattle at the Hilton Hotel. The workshops will be co-presented by Michele Clark and Chris Burns. Registration will be open by June 1st, 2015. More details to follow soon!

Thank you,
TBLC Admin Team

"Giving faculty feedback about TBL modules to ensure delivery quality"

2015-05-07T11:52:00.002-04:00

At the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, we first introduced Team-based learning (TBL) into the preclinical curriculum in academic year 2011-2012. We started with two modules generously provided by Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. As course directors and faculty became more familiar with and willing to try TBL, the number of modules delivered markedly increased to 22 in academic year 2013-14. Some modules were homegrown, and others, adapted from existing modules. As novice practitioners of TBL, the quality of our modules was variable, so we developed a process for providing feedback to faculty about module quality.

Method: In AY2013-14, all TBL modules in the preclinical curriculum were submitted for peer review to two individuals at least three weeks prior to the scheduled TBL date. Reviewers provided narrative feedback using track changes about: quality of learning objectives, readiness assurance test (RAT) questions, and application exercises; nature of the preparatory material; and alignment of all components with one another. Reviewers had one week to complete their review, giving faculty one week to respond and make changes, so the module could be finalized for printing one week prior to the scheduled date.

Lessons learned:

When starting TBL in your program, one should have a process for providing feedback to faculty about module quality. A skilled facilitator cannot make up for a poorly constructed module. The feedback process provides a means for faculty development not only in TBL construction, but also for writing learning objectives and multiple-choice items, and constructing independent learning assignments.

It takes a team of people to complete the task of providing feedback because the workload is significant. It took us an average of 6-10 hours to complete one review, so having two individuals each reviewing 22 modules was not sustainable.

Hold faculty accountable for review submission deadlines or consider a longer time frame to review. When faculty were told to submit three weeks prior to the scheduled TBL date, they actually submitted their modules 1-2 weeks in advance, which was insufficient time for an adequate review.
Having the entire module in one document with explanatory notes is helpful for reviewers. We developed a template for faculty to fill in that includes a lesson plan, advance assignment, learning objectives, RAT, and application exercises. In addition, we provide spaces for faculty to indicate the linked learning objective(s) and explain key concepts for each RAT question and application exercise.

Future directions: We continue to modify our process for providing feedback on module quality, and are currently working with the Educational Development Committee (EDC) and other members of the TBLC to develop a rubric for assessing module quality. Another major pitfall in TBL implementation is poor facilitation. We are developing a process for providing feedback to faculty on facilitation of the session, which also involves working with the EDC and other TBLC members to develop a rubric for facilitation.

Amy Lin, MD
Abbas Hyderi, MD, MPH
Janet Riddle, MD

"TBLC Growing Around the World"

2015-04-30T13:43:00.000-04:00

TBL is growing worldwide at a rate that is quite remarkable. Educators and administrators are realising the tremendous benefits that TBL offers in terms of student engagement and proven learning outcomes. As a result, since I officially retired last May, I have been travelling very widely delivering TBL workshops around the world. In just the last 6 months I've worked with faculty in the US, Chile, Colombia, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Singapore, UK and Australia. During these visits, I have delivered workshops to mixed-discipline faculty groups as well as specific faculties including engineering, pharmacy, medicine and education and even to the national training staff of the Boy Scouts of America, and to primary and secondary teachers at the Singapore Ministry for Education.

One of the memorable experiences from my visits to all these countries was to observe the implementation of TBL in a Singapore normal school seventh grade math class. What struck me in particular was to see a student with ADHD in that TBL class who became engaged with math to the point where he was able to tutor other students. Another example of the power of the TBL process was the observation by Bradford University (UK) that after the school-wide introduction of TBL, student requests for two different kinds of support had been dramatically reduced. One was that requests for support from the disability office for special accommodations (e.g. extra time for exams, a quiet test-taking environment, etc.) had almost completely disappeared; students with disabilities didn't need extra help. The other was that student requests for individual tutoring support in relation to their coursework had almost vanished altogether.

Another very interesting project that I have been working on is the introduction of TBL across the University of South Alabama. This is being done as a very well-planned and well-implemented change process that started in 2011, and is progressing well in meeting the objectives of improving student retention and improved learning. This process and the outcomes are being well documented in a paper that will soon be available. For example, dropout rates in the over 150 classes taught with TBL were less than half of the rates in comparable non-TBL courses and there were 38% fewer D's and F's and higher critical thinking scores. I think that the experience documented in the paper will provide a very good model for other institutions that want to address the very universal challenges in improving student learning and classroom experience.

-Larry Michaelsen, PhD

2015 TBLC Research Grant Award Recipients

2015-04-29T14:33:00.001-04:00

Dear TBLC Members,

The TBLC supports and encourages research and scholarship in Team-Based Learning. To help its members participate in opportunities that provide educational scholarship, the TBLC will provide funding to initiate new educational research or evaluation proposals in 2015-2016. This year there were several applicants who applied for the research grant, and we would like to recognize the winners for this year’s grant.

David Rodenbaugh
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
“A structured faculty review process within Team-Based Learning Peer Feedback/Evaluation: Impact on student team dynamics and quality of narrative feedback”

Wei-Hsin Lu
Stony Brook University Medical Center
“A Hybrid Approach: Effectiveness of an Interprofessional Patient Safety/Quality Care Team-Based Learning Simulation Experience on In-Training Healthcare Professionals”

Preman Rajalingam
Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine
“Impact of Teamwork Skills Training on Teamwork Quality in Team-Based Learning (TBL) Setting”

Each applicant and their research team will receive funding to carry out the project

We congratulate all the teams and look forward to hearing their findings at our TBLC conference in years to come.

Thank you,
Dr Judy Currey
Chair, TBLC Scholarship Committee

Peer Evaluation: Development of an Efficient Tool for Effective Feedback

2015-04-23T20:10:00.004-04:00

It is critical to hold individual students accountable for their learning in collaborative, cooperative or team-based learning. Though all group learning is not equal, peer evaluation is the accountability method used in team-based learning. However, the peer assessment process can be cumbersome for student and faculty alike.

After using paper-based student peer evaluation forms for over fifteen years, the paper process has become increasingly unwieldy as class sizes have increased. Time constraints limit the ability to record and analyze student peer evaluations and communicate results to individuals in an efficient and timely manner. Yet, the need for peer evaluation is critical in maintaining the integrity of the team-based learning process. Consequently, we searched for alternative means to improve process efficiency and hopefully, process effectiveness. Using Google Drive™ programs, a readily available and inexpensive platform, an electronic survey (Google Form™) was developed based on our original paper-based peer evaluation form.

Students access the survey from a secure on-line platform to maintain peer-to-peer anonymity and to meet FERPA guidelines. Students are expected to rank each peer's performance in eight categories using a 1-5 Likert scale. Students provide written comments and an overall performance grade for each peer on a scale of 1-10. Data is downloaded as an Excel file eliminating transcription errors. Data is analyzed and an individual report is returned to each student via Blackboard.

A time and motion study comparing the paper and electronic-based evaluation tools was conducted in AGRI 2317- Principles of Agricultural Economics in the Fall 2013 semester. Time involved in data analysis and responding to 70 students was reduced by 72% using the electronic-based tool. This facilitated more timely feedback to students. Students reported a preference for the electronic format over the paper instrument at a rate of 96%. Adjustments and redeployment of the instrument for the same course in spring 2014 took less than 5% of the time required to develop the original electronic instrument.

By implementing an electronic-based student peer evaluation instrument, instructors using team-based learning can more efficiently provide quantitative and qualitative feedback to students. More specifically:

Data output from the electronic peer evaluation format provides a much more manageable data set for analysis.

After the initial Google Form™ was developed, subsequent forms are easily developed to accommodate future and/or other classes.

Efficiencies gained through the electronic peer evaluation process allow for a much more effective turnaround time for students to receive feedback.

Student feedback indicates a preference for this type of private assessment of their peers.

We continue to fine-tune the instrument to increase user-friendliness. If you are interested in gaining access to the instrument and general instructions on how to use the electronic-based peer evaluation tool, please contact Kyle Ferrell (kwf@shsu.edu) or Foy Mills (foymills@shsu.edu).

Kyle Ferrell, Foy Mills Jr.

Sam Houston State University

TBL vs. Lecture: An Exploration of Student Test Data

2015-04-16T17:53:00.004-04:00

In Fall 2012 the first author converted a large (100-150 student) general education course from a lecture based class to a TBL formatted course. This shift entailed restructuring how class time was used and content was delivered, but the content remained the same. Students in both the lecture and TBL classes were assigned the same readings. Additionally, material that had been covered during class in the lecture format (lectures and videos) was delivered outside of class in the TBL format using podcasts, lessons in Moodle, and online access to videos. Students in both formats took the same exams with the same objective (multiple choice, true/false) questions. The TBL sections followed best practices: students were placed on permanent teams; the readiness assessment process was completed for each unit; this was followed by application exercises; and peer feedback was given throughout the semester.

A comparison of test question data after 3 TBL semesters revealed that students in lecture sections got 78% of questions correct while students in TBL sections got 81% of questions correct (this difference was significant). The first author was interested in exploring where this improvement came from and wondered what methods of content delivery in lecture based classes were more or less effective than in a TBL class? For example, did students in TBL sections have a better grasp of material that had previously only been assigned outside of class (e.g. a reading not covered in lecture)? Did they fare worse on material that used to be delivered via lecture because they now reviewed it on their own?

Working with two colleagues, Lisa Walker and Angela Ferrara, we explored this issue by comparing the percentage of students who correctly answered objective (multiple choice/TF) exam questions in these two learning environments (lecture vs. TBL). We analyzed student exam data collected over five semesters. Two of these semesters were lecture based (340 students total). Three semesters were taught using TBL (356 students total). One hundred and one test questions remained constant over these 5 semesters and these were included in our analysis. The first author determined the correct answers and developed a key that was used to machine score the questions.

Questions were categorized based on how students in the lecture based course received the information contained in the question. A test question was categorized as:

"In-class content delivery" if students were only exposed to the information during face-to-face class time.

"Self-directed/outside of class" if students were only exposed to the information outside of class.

"Both" if the information in the test question was covered during face-to-face class time and in a resource students were expected to review outside of class.

Note, questions were not classified based on how content was delivered in TBL sections because all content was initially delivered outside of class. Class time was then spent engaging in the Readiness Assessment Process and application exercises.

The analysis revealed that regardless of how content was delivered in the lecture section, TBL students had higher scores. All differences were statistically significant. Students exposed to TBL scored higher (81%) on the in-class content delivery questions than students in lecture (79%) (t = 1.819, p = 0.035). Students exposed to TBL got 78% of the self-directed/outside of class questions correct, while students in the lecture sections got 72% correct (t = 5.749, p<0.001). Finally, TBL students scored higher (86%) than lecture students (83%) on questions categorized as both (t = 2.261, p = 0.012). These results suggest TBL can be as effective, if not more effective, than lecture based pedagogy.

Coral Wayland

Angie Ferrara

Lisa Walker

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

TBL 101 is Being Offered at IAMSE

2015-04-15T14:16:00.003-04:00

Dear Colleagues,

The TBL 101 and Creating an Effective TBL Module workshops will be offered at the 19th Annual IAMSE (International Association of Medical Science Educators) Meeting this summer on Saturday, June 13th, 2015 from 8:30 am to 3:15 pm Eastern Time. These workshops will be co-presented by Sandy Cook and Kevin Krane. These workshops can be registered for independently of the normal conference registration. For more information, please visit http://www.iamseconference.org.

Thank you,

TBLC Admin Team

Team-Based Learning and Undergraduate Anatomy: A Good Match

2015-04-13T13:23:00.005-04:00

Team-Based Learning has often been used to teach anatomy and physiology courses in medical school and at other graduate schools in the health professions, but these courses are still uncommon in undergraduate programs. I have found TBL to be a perfect fit for this topic and level.

The Anatomy and Physiology courses at UMBC, like at many institutions, are a two-semester, sophomore-level biology courses taken primarily by pre-health students. The 100 or so students that enroll each semester are equally distributed among those planning careers in nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy and medicine. The TBL version of the course is divided into seven units, each of which begins with a Readiness Assessment Test (IRAT and TRAT) and ends with an application exercise. Teams are fixed and students are given required readings before class which are the basis for the RAT.

Application activities, an integral part of each module, are structured using "4S" principles and emphasize the most challenging goals for each unit. Each application activity is projected on slides to be reviewed by the teams. I have learned the following lessons about designing effective application activities which may be helpful to other faculty teaching undergraduate TBL courses:

Use relatively simple clinical applications to provide significant, specific-choice problems. For example: You're in the dentist's chair, awaiting your root canal. The dentist pauses, needle in hand. "Which cranial nerve should I block?" she asks.

After teams use voting cards to indicate their choices, have them place the cards on stands (such as seating places at a wedding might be marked) so everyone can see and remember each team's choice.

When facilitating team discussions choose individuals randomly during facilitation to report their team's reasoning. This prevents one or two students from becoming the team's spokesperson or spokespeople, and forces weaker or less focused students to work to understand the team's answer and reasoning.

Application exercises should be kept short. A long, complex problem can be broken up into smaller pieces. This keeps the teams on track and minimizes chatter about their weekends, as students usually have only 2-3 minutes for each problem or piece of the problem.

"Significant" doesn't always mean "Realistic." Some of my best applications-meaning, those that produce the best within-team and between-team discussion-are my "Alien Ray Gun" questions, in which a pictured cartoon alien threatens to vaporize one of various cell types within a tissue, tissues within an organ, or organs within an organ system, but kindly allows the victim to choose which. Choosing between types of T lymphocytes, for example, or whether to vaporize their stomach or colon, teams become highly invested in their answers while at the same time learning the nitty gritty functional relevance of each cell type or organ - which is, of course, the point!

Direct competition among teams is a useful tool. Often, the times of highest enthusiasm and participation in my classroom are the ten-question "For the Pie" competitions, usually held shortly before individual exams, in which student teams compete on a series of short, tough questions to win homemade pie baked by the instructor. Although the "For The Pie" times are not advertised, students learn to predict them and often seem to study harder for them than for the actual test!

This approach has, over three years, been highly successful. The DFW rate (percent of students receiving Ds or Fs or withdraw from the course) is very low since TBL was implemented, less than 5% per year, versus 15-30% before using TBL. Student satisfaction is high, based on both official student evaluations and mid-course anonymous surveys. When compared to lecture, students give the TBL course significantly higher ratings for both how much they learned as well as the instructor's overall teaching effectiveness.

A pre-posttest is given in each semester for the TBL course. Results reveal that students more than double their knowledge each semester. Additionally, students retain more material from A&P 1 than students who took the course the same year in a lecture format.

The major benefit that TBL provides is the time to explore complex and interesting problems in class with your students. By keeping the organization and flow tight and focused while allowing for misconceptions and messiness to flow freely during facilitation, the course allows students to get confused (a state that is all too lacking in lectures) in an environment that facilitates the transformation of that confusion into new understanding - learning!

Sarah Leupen, PhD

University of Maryland

TBLC Board of Directors Nominations

2015-04-02T16:20:00.001-04:00

Dear TBLC members,

This year the TBLC has two positions open up for the Steering Committee (Board of Directors): the K-12 Member-at-Large and the President Elect. LaTonya Amboree, the current K-12 Member-at-Large, has been nominated for a second term, and Michael Nelson has been nominated for President-Elect. The slate was approved by the nominations committee on March 15th, 2015. According to TBLC bylaws (http://www.teambasedlearning.org/page-1033379), members have until April 25th to petition for additional candidates to be added to the ballot. If additional nominations are received, an electronic ballot will go out to members on May 1st, with voting open until May 31st. If no additional nominations are received, no election will be necessary, as the nominees ran unopposed.

We would also like to thank the current Board of Directors for their service to the TBLC.

President:Wayne McCormack
Past President:Ruth Levine
President Elect:Karla Kubitz
Treasurer:Ed McKee
Health Sciences MAL:Michael Nelson
Higher Education MAL:Peter Balan
K-12 MAL:LaTonya Amboree
Expert Adviser:Larry Michaelsen
Executive Editor of Publications:Michael Sweet
2015 Program Chair:Karla Kubitz
2015 Program Co-Chair:Tatyana Pashnyak
Collaborative Manager:Julie Hewett

Thank you,
TBLC Admin Team

A Process for Providing Feedback to Faculty About TBL Modules

2015-03-27T11:03:00.003-04:00

Method: In AY2013-14, all TBL modules in the preclinical curriculum were submitted for peer review to two individuals at least three weeks prior to the scheduled TBL date. Reviewers provided narrative feedback using track changes about: quality of learning objectives, readiness assurance test (RAT) questions, and application exercises; nature of the preparatory material; and alignment of all components with one another. Reviewers had one week to complete their review, giving faculty one week to respond and make changes, so the module could be finalized for printing one week prior to the scheduled date.

Lessons learned:

When starting TBL in your program, one should have a process for providing feedback to faculty about module quality. A skilled facilitator cannot make up for a poorly constructed module. The feedback process provides a means for faculty development not only in TBL construction, but also for writing learning objectives and multiple-choice items, and constructing independent learning assignments.
It takes a team of people to complete the task of providing feedback because the workload is significant. It took us an average of 6-10 hours to complete one review, so having two individuals each reviewing 22 modules was not sustainable.
Hold faculty accountable for review submission deadlines or consider a longer time frame to review. When faculty were told to submit three weeks prior to the scheduled TBL date, they actually submitted their modules 1-2 weeks in advance, which was insufficient time for an adequate review.
Having the entire module in one document with explanatory notes is helpful for reviewers. We developed a template for faculty to fill in that includes a lesson plan, advance assignment, learning objectives, RAT, and application exercises. In addition, we provide spaces for faculty to indicate the linked learning objective(s) and explain key concepts for each RAT question and application exercise.

Future directions: We continue to modify our process for providing feedback on module quality, and are currently working with the Educational Development Committee (EDC) and other members of the TBLC to develop a rubric for assessing module quality. Another major pitfall in TBL implementation is poor facilitation. We are developing a process for providing feedback to faculty on facilitation of the session, which also involves working with the EDC and other TBLC members to develop a rubric for facilitation.

Amy Lin, MD

Abbas Hyderi, MD, MPH

Janet Riddle, MD

University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago

TBLC Call for 2016 Program Committee Volunteers

2015-03-25T16:23:00.001-04:00

Dear Colleagues,

It’s time to begin planning the 15th Annual TBLC Meeting! The first step in the process is to form the Program Committee. The role of the Program Committee is to establish a theme and schedule for the program, select and invite pertinent speakers, and collaborate on various tasks as needed in order to provide the membership with an outstanding annual meeting experience.

We are seeking broad representation of professional educators who have implemented TBL for at least one year. You should be available for monthly phone meetings as well as be able to respond to email requests within 2-3 days from April 2015 through March 2016. We also expect you to bring great ideas and a collegial spirit! If you are selected and actively participate, your name will be listed in the conference program.

If you would like to be considered for a position on this Committee, please send a brief statement of interest tobkounse@tblcadmin.org by Wednesday, April 1, 2015. We would like to complete selections by April 3rd, so we can begin our phone meetings in April 2015.

For additional information or questions, please contact bkounse@tblcadmin.org.