How to Implement Team-based Learning in a Classroom

Abstract

Team-based learning is an innovative method of teaching that is structured, student-centered, and takes a "flipped" approach to learning and emphasizes cooperative learning. This method is becoming popular among educators worldwide, especially those in the medical field and teacher training. In Thailand, it has been used mostly among those involved in medical education. However, this approach has not been very appealing to those in teacher education. The primary goal of this article is to provide Thai educators with information on how to implement team-based learning in the classroom as an alternative method of instruction. Team-based learning (TBL) is an instructional method developed in the business school environment in the early 1990s by Dr. LK Michaelsen. Its unique characteristics lie in the way that, in any learning unit, there are three specific activities in a sequence with definite roles for both the teacher and students. 1) Before class, individual students do advanced preparation for the learning process based on the objectives of the learning unit that the teacher has provided. 2) On the first day of class, students conduct four activities, namely, individual readiness tests, team readiness tests, and an appeal, receiving immediate feedback from the teacher. 3) For the rest of the learning unit, the majority of the class time is spent on the students working in teams to do decision-based application assignments. The learning units are designed with Wiggins and McTighe’s Backward Design in mind. Efficient instructional assignments were created applying 4S’s principles: significant problem, same problem, specific choice, and simultaneous report.