Project Investigator(s): Anka Lekhi, Instructor, Department of Chemistry
Project Description
In Fall 2016, we developed course materials to facilitate Team-based Learning (TBL) in Chemistry 301. Students in a TBL class engage with a case study in pre-assigned teams of 4-6. Teams are required to make a decision about the case using information from pre-reading assignments and course content. Comments from teaching evaluations indicate that students felt more interested in chemistry because of TBL. The aim of this project is to evaluate the extent at which student interest in chemistry changes and whether student skills in critical thinking, data interpretation and problem solving are enhanced as a result of TBL.
Research Questions
How does Team-based Learning influence:
- Students’ interest in and perceptions of Chemistry in terms of its importance and relevance to daily life?
- Student critical thinking skills and academic performance?
- Students’ team skills such as consensus building and comfort with working in teams?
Impact on teaching and learning at UBC
Team-based or Problem-based learning are all powerful instructional methodologies that are used in various faculties across UBC campus (Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Pharmacy, etc). This project has the potential to encourage other science courses, particularly large science lectures to incorporate TBL and other case-based activities. Most faculty members across all disciplines focus on the transmission of course content when considering student interest. This project may encourage faculty to shift the focus to pedagogy.
Achieved Outcomes
Students performed significantly better on exam questions that tested TBL content (77%) than questions that did not (69%). We found no difference in student interest as was assessed in a pre/post survey. This is mainly due to high pre-scores. Critical thinking skills, as was assessed through team worksheets, improved over the term and students reported better team experiences including more even contributions from all group members.