Scratching the surface of team-based learning

At its heart, chemistry is a problem-solving subject. The objective of much of chemistry teaching is to equip learners with knowledge they then apply to solve problems. For many learners, the step from following examples of problem solving given by instructors to doing it for themselves resembles a quantum leap.

Traditionally, bridging this gap is achieved by more personal instructor time, such as in tutorials. But this is very demanding on staff time and students often have a different instructor to the one who introduced the concept to them. In team-based learning, learners see that their peers have understanding, demonstrating this knowledge is within their sphere of comprehension. Team-based learning provides a structured framework where learners interact as knowledgeable peers, who pool their knowledge and support each other in their thinking to come to collective decisions in solving problems. Team-based learning is one way of encouraging your students to become active learners.

Our experience is that team-based learning is a highly efficient and interactive way of teaching classes of 100–150 learners, requiring a very small staff-student ratio with little compromise on the learner experience and receives excellent feedback.