TBL Process

The TBL Process

1. Individual pre-work

Students are expected to peruse a set of preparatory materials, which can take the form of readings, presentation slides, audio lectures or video lectures. They should be set at a suitable level for the students of the course.

2. Individual Readiness Assurance Test (iRAT)

In class, students complete an individual quiz called the iRAT, which consists of 5–20 multiple-choice or very-short answer questions based on the pre-work materials.

3. Team Readiness Assurance Test (tRAT)

After submitting the iRAT, students form teams and take the same test and submit answers—on a scratch card or using TBL enabled software—as a team. Both iRAT and tRAT scores count toward the student's final grade.

After taking both the iRAT and tRAT, students will have the opportunity to raise points of clarification or question the quality of multiple-choice questions in the tests. Instructors can then address the questions and facilitate a discussion regarding the topics and concepts covered.

4. Application exercises

Finally, students work in teams to solve application problems that allow them to apply and expand on the knowledge they have just learned and tested. They must arrive at collective response to the application question and display their answer choice in an e-gallery walk in the classroom. Instructors then facilitate a discussion or debate among teams to consider the possible solutions to the application problem.

5. Peer evaluation

This last stage is an optional component of the team-based learning process. At the middle or end of the course, some faculty members do a peer evaluation for their teams.

Now that you know how the TBL Process works, let's see how you can do it in LAMS.