They Read, but Do They Understand? Utilizing Team-Based Learning to Develop Critical Thinking and Collaboration Skills

• In Event: 3223 - Teaching and Learning Symposium: Lightning Presentations of Teaching Technique

Abstract

This presentation discusses team-based learning methods for facilitating students’ ability to critically discuss and retain the main ideas of the course. An objective of my Sociological Theory course was for students to apply theoretical concepts to contemporary social issues. Over the course of the semester, each student built a Concepts Journal: a compilation of key concepts, theories, and themes from class discussion and the student’s reading notes. Students identified connections across ideas and documented how theories build upon one another.

As one of a series of courses for my transfer student learning community, another objective of the Theory course was to build solidarity and collaboration. Towards this end, I utilize a team-based learning pedagogy in which students belong to permanent teams. Teammate collaboration on the Concepts Journal enhanced students’ depth of understanding of the course material and their ability to identify how theoretical concepts have been modified over time. Individual student’s work improved over the course of the semester, especially following each team collaboration session.

Projects required teams to select a social issue or event covered by the media and explain to the class how it could be understood utilizing Sociological theory. These team projects further demonstrated students’ ability to apply theories and concepts. By the end of the course, students were able to synthesize ideas from across the semester, which indicated a higher level of retention than students had shown in previous semesters. Student feedback at the midpoint and end of the semester supported my observations about cohesion, integration, and successful community-building among the transfer students. This active, team-based learning approach to teaching would be useful for both small and large classes and is applicable beyond theory courses.

Author

• Sarah Pollock, UNC Charlotte