Perception of team-based learning using the team-based learning student assessment instrument: an exploratory analysis within pharmacy and biomedical students in the United Kingdom

Introducing Group Open-Book Exams as a Learning and Assessment Strategy in the Clinical Biochemistry Course for Medical Students

BACKGROUND

Teachers constantly strive to obtain reliable and appropriate teaching and assessment methods to maximize the learning experience. This study aimed to introduce combined modified team-based learning and open-book exams (TBL/OBEs) as learning and assessment strategies in clinical biochemistry for medical students and assess students' perceptions.

METHODS

Second-year medical students enrolled in the clinical biochemistry course were included in this study and subjected to TBL/OBE assessment. The assessment included two parts: the open-book format for half of the questions and the closed-book format for the other as a control. Upon completing the combined TBL/OBE session, the students were required to complete a structured survey to evaluate their perception of the experience. The data were gathered and analyzed. Data were presented as mean±standard error of the mean (SEM), and a p-value ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

A total of 358 students completed the TBL/OBE and closed-book exam (CBE) and responded to the survey. Of these students, 76% preferred the OBE, and 84% thought it was a suitable learning method. On the one hand, the mean difficulty of the OBE format was 92.7±1.5 SEM, while, for the CBE, the mean difficulty was 88.7±1.9 SEM (p=0.015). On the other hand, the mean discrimination factor for OBE was 0.26±0.04 and, for the CBE, 0.41±0.04 SEM (p=0.0016). Males found the OBE questions easier (p=0.025) and less stressful (p=0.01).

CONCLUSION

A combined model of modified TBL and OBE is a successful learning and assessment strategy in clinical biochemistry for medical students.

Service learning and the medical student affective domain

BACKGROUND

The Association of American Medical College (AAMC) requires all students to demonstrate four core attributes: knowledge, skills, altruism and dutifulness. A formal service-learning curriculum may serve to explicitly foster altruism and dutifulness in the affective domain of Bloom's taxonomy as well as proactively improve student well-being.

APPROACH

All Harvard Medical School students enrolled in the Principal Clinical Experience (PCE) programme in the 2018-2019 academic year at Brigham and Women's Hospital were excused from clerkship responsibilities and given the opportunity to participate in a half-day team-based community-service intervention at a not-for-profit organisation in Boston, MA. Following the service-learning initiative, we examined student compassion, civic responsibility, well-being and team cooperativeness using validated survey questions, supplemented by free-text feedback.

EVALUATION

Forty-five of the 55 PCE students (82%) attended the outing. Overall, 68% of students found the outing to be valuable and 23% somewhat valuable. On a scale of 0-20, students reported very high self-perception of compassion (mean = 19.9), civic responsibility (mean = 19.7) and team development and composition (mean = 19.1), after the event. Students reported lower perceptions of personal well-being (mean = 17.5), but emotional wellness was the most frequently mentioned theme in open response.

IMPLICATIONS

Incorporation of a team-based service-learning activity contributes to the students' community understanding, empathy and class team building. Utilisation of a published framework in the development of this initiative likely contributed to its success. Given our findings, we plan further expansion of this service learning longitudinally through the 4-year curriculum to potentially strengthen the affective domain for students further.

The effects of online Team-Based Learning on undergraduate nursing students' performance, attitudes and accountability during COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND AND AIM

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many institutions to move Team-Based Learning to an online format. The primary aim of this study is to examine the performance of undergraduate nursing students on tRAT and iRAT during online TBL. The secondary aims are to evaluate the students' attitudes and their accountability, preferences and satisfaction with online TBL.

METHODS

The study employed a one-group pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design. The primary outcome was evaluated by comparing the students' average scores in the tRAT versus the iRAT in each online TBL session. The secondary outcomes were evaluated through the questionnaire designed by Parmelee et al. (2009) and the Team-Based Learning Student Assessment Instrument (TBL-SAI) (Mennenga, 2012).

RESULTS

A statistically significant improvement was identified between tRAT and iRAT performances in all online TBL sessions (p<0.001). Students' satisfaction with team experience showed a statistically significant increase (p=0.003). Participants considered the peer evaluation to be fair (p<0.001), although it didn't encourage them to study more (p=0.028). Finally, students felt they were able to make the right decisions (p<0.001). The mean scores for accountability (m=30±3.7) and preferences for TBL (m=51.8±6.3) were higher than their neutral values (n=24; n=48). Students' satisfaction was neutral (m=27.8±5, n=27).

CONCLUSIONS

In online TBL, teamwork has improved individual performances and has been appreciated by the participants. The online TBL had a positive effect on the accountability of students who preferred it to frontal lectures.

Applying team-based learning in a transnational post registration bachelor of nursing program in Singapore

Background

Team-Based Learning (TBL) is growing in popularity as a method to create active learning within larger group lectures. It is facilitated through phases of individual work, teamwork with immediate feedback and an application exercise, to develop students’ understanding and assessment of conceptual knowledge. A single facilitator can manage many groups within larger lectures. The study aim was to evaluate the impact of TBL on the engagement, learning and satisfaction of students enrolled in a transnational post registration Bachelor of Nursing (BN) program in Singapore.

Methods

A cross-sectional design was employed. The TBL approach was delivered during lecture sessions within a post registration BN program delivered in a Higher Education Institution in Singapore. A sample of BN students was drawn from 305 students undertaking the program. An online anonymous university-delivered student evaluation of course (SEC) survey and an online anonymous survey using the Student Assessment Instrument, were used to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Survey participation was voluntary with informed consent protocols followed. Student performance in the course was also reviewed.

Results

Eighty-two students (27%) completed the SEC scoring a median of 4/5 for satisfaction, and 68 (22%) completed the online survey. As 93 was the neutral score for the survey, there was a moderately positive evaluation with an overall score of 108.5/155 for TBL in accountability for learning, TBL preference and satisfaction with TBL compared to traditional lecture approaches.

Conclusions

Implementation of TBL with this cohort demonstrated evidence of moderately positive engagement, learning and satisfaction when compared to traditional didactic lectures.

A conceptual model for students' satisfaction with team-based learning using partial least squares structural equation modelling in a faculty of life sciences, in the United Kingdom

PURPOSE

Students' satisfaction is an essential element in higher education. This study aimed to identify paths and predictive power of students' satisfaction during team-based learning (TBL) activities in the faculty of life sciences using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

METHODS

In 2018-2019, at the University of Sussex (Falmer, UK), 180 life science students exposed to TBL were invited to participate in the study. Team-Based-Learning-Student-Assessment-Instrument was used. A conceptual model was developed for testing six hypotheses. H1: What was the effect of TBL on student satisfaction? H2: What was the effect of lectures on student satisfaction? H3: What was the effect of TBL on accountability? H4: What was the effect of lectures on accountability? H5: What was the effect of accountability on student satisfaction? H6: What were the in-sample and out-of-sample predictive power of the model? The analysis was conducted using the PLS-SEM approach.

RESULTS

Ninety-nine students participated in the study giving a 55% response rate. Confirmatory tetrad analysis suggested a reflective model. Construct reliability, validity, average extracted variance, and discriminant validity were confirmed. All path coefficients were positive, and 5 were statistically significant (H1: β=0.587, P<0:001; H2: β=0.262, P<0.001; H3: β=0.532, P<0.001; H4: β=0.063, P=0.546; H5: β=0.200, P=0.002). The in-sample predictive power was weak for Accountability, (R2=0.303; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.117-0.428; P<0.001) and substantial for Student Satisfaction (R2=0.678; 95% CI, 0.498-0.777; P<0.001). The out-of-sample predictive power was moderate.

CONCLUSION

The results have demonstrated the possibility of developing and testing a TBL conceptual model using PLS-SEM for the evaluation of path coefficients and predictive power relative to students' satisfaction.