Team-Based Learning (TBL)

What is Team-Based Learning?

Team-Based Learning is an instructional approach that promotes student interaction and engagement with each other and the content. It shifts the responsibility for learning to the student and adjusts the role of the teacher from 'sage on the stage' to 'guide on the side'. According to Michaelson and Sweet (2008), "the primary learning objective in TBL is to go beyond simply covering content and focus on ensuring that students have the opportunity to practice using course concepts to solve problems. Thus, TBL is designed to provide students with both conceptual and procedural knowledge" (p. 7). TBL is grounded in active learning and the application of concepts to problem-solving, rather than passive learning through traditional lectures.

TBL embodies a structured approach to collaborative learning. Unlike TBL, general use of group work can take place randomly from one class to another with changing group make-ups, changing group sizes and varying tasks from session to session. TBL on the other hand is more systematic. There are certain features that must be in place for the approach to truly be designated as TBL. They are:

Permanent Teams (Groups) - Students are placed into permanent groups for the duration of the course.
Accountability - Students are held accountable to both individual and team work.
Feedback - Students must receive frequent and timely feedback; ideally, feedback is provided in the moment of the learning activity.
Critical Assignment Design - Students are pushed to be critical thinkers, effective problem-solvers and good collaborators. Assignments should create opportunities for students to link course concepts to the bigger picture (problems, case studies, etc.).

Team-Based Learning in Action!

There are several excellent resources that provide additional information and details about implementing TBL in contexts ranging from small to large classes and spanning the levels of learners, from introductory classes to higher level courses in medical schools. The Team-Based Learning Collaborative Links to an external site., spearheaded by the founder of TBL, Larry Michaelson, is an obvious choice for up-to-date information on TBL with videos of actual classroom footage, interviews with professionals about implementing TBL, course design checklists, and more! We recommend this quick reference handout Links to an external site. for a nice introduction to TBL.

Also, the University of Texas also produced a video Links to an external site. demonstrating the implementation of TBL at their institution with interviews of students and instructors.

Finally, Duke-NUS Graduate School of Medicine in Singapore produced this fabulous video (below) of TBL in action with highlights of student and teacher experiences through interviews.