April 8, 2016 Issue 2

Team-Based Learning

In the first issue of the ThinkSpace newsletter, we introduced the ThinkSpace Learning community and explored some of the new features of ThinkSpace set to launch in the coming months. This time, we’d like to focus on applications of teams and Team-Based Learning (TBL) in ThinkSpace. We’ll see how two faculty members implement Peer Review and Carry Forward in their classroom, as well as see a Feature Analysis of a notable facet of TBL, Peer Evaluation.

ThinkSpace goes to TBLC

Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a style of teaching that encourages collaborative learning within small groups of students.Read More

On March 3rd, the Team-Based Learning Collaborative(TBLC) hosted its annual seminar in Albuquerque, New Mexico. ThinkSpace community members presented a session at the seminar demonstrating the applications of Team-Based Learning (TBL) in ThinkSpace. Leveraging ThinkSpace to facilitate collaboration, we took session attendees through exercises modeling how their students would work in teams using ThinkSpace. Our goal with the session was to expand familiarity with ThinkSpace in the TBL community and form partnerships and collaborations to improve the effectiveness of TBL features in ThinkSpace.

We came away from TBLC with a greater appreciation for TBL and strengthened understanding of the needs of educators who use TBL in their classrooms. The importance of spending time up front to make sure your cases properly address your learning objectives was emphasized in several discussions. We attended a session specifically on assessing the effectiveness of team-based modules and how to map class activities to learning goals by using a rubric as a guide.

We also heard from people who are heavily involved in the Team-Based Learning community about the lack of centralized technical support for TBL and TBL activities such as iRAT/tRAT, motivating us to explore the possibilities of adding these to our TBL suite. All in all, the experience reinforced our goal to make ThinkSpace an accessible, comprehensive resource for scalable and efficient implementations of TBL.

Faculty Spotlight - Holly Bender and Karen Bovenmyer

Phase 2

Holly Bender and Karen Bovenmyer use ThinkSpace in their Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program.Read More

Last month, we sat down with Holly Bender and Karen Bovenmyer to ask them how they use ThinkSpace in their classroom. They mentioned how ThinkSpace is a great aid for their Preparing Future Faculty (PFF) program. Today, they go more in-depth on what goes into a PFF case and how they utilize Peer Review for their course, and talk the effectiveness of ThinkSpace in a Q&A. Here’s what they had to say:

Feature Analysis - Peer Evaluation

Peer Evaluation in ThinkSpace promotes cooperation and coordination between groups of students by enforcing accountability. Read More

Peer evaluation is a widely used and essential component of Team-Based Learning (TBL). The goal of Peer Evaluation is to assess the contribution of each member, provide feedback, and reinforce individual accountability within groups and teams. ThinkSpace provides an effective way to employ Peer Evaluation in your classroom with the Peer Evaluation feature.

One of the well-known methods of Peer Evaluation is the Michaelson method. The Michaelson method requires learners to distribute a number of points amongst their team members and distinguish the scores between team members such that no two are given the same score. This encourages learners to think critically about group contributions, and ensures that each member is held accountable for their work. ThinkSpace supports this approach to quantitative evaluation using Balance Points. Balance Points allow the instructor to set the total number of points available (relative to team size), set the minimum and maximum score allocations for each team member, and optionally set whether or not the scores must be distinct between team members.

Student evaluating team members

ThinkSpace also supports quantitative evaluation in the form of Categories and Free Scoring. Using Categories, the instructor is able to create a number of questions or categories for team members to assess each other on. The instructor can set a minimum and maximum value for these categories. Free Scoring simply allows each team member to evaluate each other member’s overall performance by assigning them a value within a certain range.

Setting up categories in the builder

While the quantitative section is used for scoring each learner based on contribution, the qualitative section aims to provide valuable feedback so that they may improve and develop themselves as a team member. In the qualitative section, the Michaelson method calls for each team member to write both a positive and a constructive comment for every other member. This way, those leaving comments feel encouraged to critique others in a constructive way, while those receiving comments can understand what they did well and what they can improve. ThinkSpace accommodates both individual member comments as well as comments for the whole team.

Student leaving qualitative feedback

Jeanna Nation from the Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) at Iowa State University used ThinkSpace Peer Evaluation during its pilot offerings. Jeanna has used TBL in her courses since 2010. Prior to ThinkSpace, she recalls administering the Peer Evaluation to her students on paper, and after the due date was reached, she would collect all of the scores, enter them into Excel, copy their feedback, average the scores, and send them to the students along with the compiled written feedback. Now, using ThinkSpace, she explains that “the ability for me to administer the peer evaluation in TS saved me and students a lot of time. Students had less time writing their comments, and I had a lot less time dedicated to data entry, averaging scores, and anonymizing and sending out qualitative feedback.” Jeanna uses the Michaelson method of Peer Evaluation for her personal finance course.

ThinkSpace Peer Evaluation is a great way to encourage team participation by giving students the responsibility of assessing their team members’ performance. Peer Evaluation is available now and ready to use.

The ThinkSpace team continues to develop features that incorporate teams and Team-Based Learning, as well as improve existing team functionalities. Our experiences at TBLC and conversations with educators have demonstrated a need for scalable and efficient solutions for implementing TBL. We are committed to the goal of providing a robust and diverse suite of TBL and team collaborative applications within ThinkSpace.

We encourage you to share this newsletter with your colleagues and peers, and don’t forget to sign up for monthly updates, interviews, and highlights like these at thinkspace.org.