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The
following is from our October 2005 interview with
Dr. Zimmerman:
What took you to that workshop where you were introduced to team-based learning?
By all traditional measures, I was a pretty good traditional lecturer. It appeared students were happy and learning a lot. But I knew they weren’t learning what I hoped they had. I was looking for something else that would help students reach a deeper understanding of the material. I explored a number of teaching techniques including cooperative learning strategies and case study teaching, and then learned about team-based learning. The first semester I used team-based learning I saw a dramatic turn around. Since then I have continued to explore using team-based learning in a variety of classes and settings.
You are doing some interesting research involving team-based learning. Could you tell me about that?
The team-based learning methods seems to require skills students have not developed in their previous educational experiences.
At the undergraduate level in particular Interpersonal skills are an issue. While teaching as a post graduate student, I was shocked at the inability of medical students to form sentences that related complex thoughts and discuss complex physiology with each other without a lot of frustration. They are not practiced in listening actively and effectively, thinking through information and presenting it clearly, or respectfully presenting disagreement without offense.
Our research involves looking at the skills students need to take advantage of team-based learning and to measuring if team-based learning has an impact on critical thinking. My experience tells me team-based learning increases students’ critical thinking skills. We will try to measure it in a controlled trial comparing team-based learning to case-based learning in a variety of learners.
The interpersonal piece is important at all levels. Attacking it at the undergraduate level allows focus on development of other skills in later education. In graduate education hopefully more focus can be placed on critical thinking skills. Students need different skills once they leave college than they did 40 years ago. Before, it was okay to enter the job market or advanced education as a “solid memorizer” – now that is not as acceptable. We do our students a disservice if we do not push them to develop beyond that level.
You teach a wide variety of students and you teach interdisciplinary classes. What benefits and challenges does that present?
I teach PA, CRNA, and PT professional students in addition to undergraduates. I’ve observed that the interdisciplinary setting further increases student gains in critical thinking. This spring we are putting together PA, PT, clinical psychology, and graduate nursing students as a cohort group to test this observation.
The main challenge with an interdisciplinary group is the vast array of student diversity – different program admission requirements, certainly. But also big differences in student self confidence, family support for education, and desire to reach and exceed expectations. My colleagues and I have struggled for ways to balance these factors when setting groups. I usually wind up with at least one student in each group who is convinced they “can’t do this,” and I struggle how to guide the students to see they do have abilities. The setting is so novel to them; often, they have never been asked for their opinion, and don’t know how to handle it. Most will rise to the challenge on their own, but many will fall by the wayside and need guidance.
Has student “angst” about team-based learning been an issue for university administration?
I am lucky to have a very supportive dean who wants to promote best practices based on good pedagogy. Other administrators may be under a different set of pressures and respond differently to student “complaint.” Personally, I have thick skin. My attitude is it’s okay to complain, I will listen to you ( the student ), but then we will get on with what we need to do. I feel teachers need to understand and embrace that they know best what students need to learn. For many of my students being pushed to achieve beyond their comfort zone is a new experience. Every student must eventually find their limits. Unfortunately, that is now often happening in grad school rather than earlier in the process.
Students also want to see numbers – proof that team-based learning works. I have data now demonstrating dramatic increases in content learning. The manuscript is in preparation and I hope the results will be disseminated soon.
You’ve used team-based learning for about 4 years now. Do you get feedback from former students?
I have received volumes of email from former students, mostly those who have gone on to professional and other graduate education. They express how well team-based learning, the higher expectations and critical skills, prepared them for more advance schooling.
Any other final thoughts you would like to share?
Yes. I regularly run into the notion that knowledge has to come out of the professors mouth for the student to learn it. That attitude does such a disservice to the students. Sometimes we are reluctant to create different learning situations because it creates more work, it puts us in an unfamiliar teaching situation, or we fear complaints. But as faculty, we must have high expectations and trust students will rise to them. As time goes on, I find I become less concerned with teaching specific content and more with teaching students how to discover information and reason through it.
You
may contact Dr. Zimmerman at sdz575f@smsu.edu
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