Student Perceptions of Team-Based Learning in the Criminal Justice Classroom

Abstract

As instructors seek ways to increase student engagement and retention, several innovative pedagogical approaches have been developed that fosters critical thinking and quality group work. One of these approaches is Team-Based Learning (TBL), a flipped-classroom model that has been found to improve student outcomes and knowledge retention. While prior research has found students tend to have positive perceptions of TBL, these have been limited to other disciplines. The current study sought to examine how students perceive the use of TBL in two criminal justice courses through pre- and post-test surveys. Results indicated that students overall had positive perceptions of TBL as they found solving problems in teams to be effective and tended to prefer TBL to traditional lecture-based courses. Implications and future directions are also discussed.

Keywords:

• Teams
• pedagogy
• perceptions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 For additional information on the TBL process, the authors would direct interested readers to the work of Sweet and Michaelsen (2012).

2 Though the original sample size was n = 112, one student was dropped from the analysis as they were under the age of 18 and did not have proper parental consent to take part in the study. The analyses were estimated with the full sample as well as excluding this particular case and the results were substantively similar.

3 An anonymous reviewer recommended we separate the pre- and post-test comparisons by class as there may be meaningful differences between the lower- and upper-division course. The results were substantively the same as those presented here and suggest the perceptions of TBL were the same regardless of course type.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessica M. Craig

Jessica M. Craig is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas. Her research interests include juvenile justice and life course criminology, with a focus on the consequences of child maltreatment. Some of her recent work has been published in Journal of Criminal Justice, Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, Crime & Delinquency, and Deviant Behavior.

Brooke Nodeland

Brooke Nodeland is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of North Texas. She received her Ph.D. in Criminology from the University of Texas at Dallas. Her research interests include cyber offending, cyber victimization, victimology, and public opinion. Some of her recent work has appeared in Crime and Delinquency, Deviant Behavior, Security Journal, and Criminal Justice Review.

Roxanne Long

Roxanne Noelle Long, Ph.D. is a Senior Lecturer in the Applied Arts and Sciences program at University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. The Applied Arts and Sciences program is a multi-disciplinary degree with a focus on non-traditional learners. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Texas. She received her Master of Public School Administration from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma and her Bachelor of Science in Education from University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma. With vast teaching experience, Roxanne emphasizes student-centered teaching and holistic education both in research focus and in practice. She has researched and presented on innovative classroom teaching techniques, reaching diversity of learners, and encompassing factors in educational attainment.

Emily Spivey

Emily Spivey is a first-year doctoral student in criminal justice at Texas State University. Her research interests include criminological theory, victimology, and policing.