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Innovations in Classroom Practice

Team-based learning for the basic communication course: a transformative pedagogical approach

 

ABSTRACT

Team-based learning (TBL) is an instructional method that provides a specific sequence of individual and group work followed by immediate feedback. Scaffolding the basic course based on TBL principles allows for a democratic focus of the general-education requirement and development of communication skills at multiple levels simultaneously (interpersonal, group, and public).

Notes

1. Luke LeFebvre, “Basic Course in Communication,” in The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods, ed. Mike Allen (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, in press).

2. Omar Swartz, “Interdisciplinary and Pedagogical Implications of Rhetorical Theory,” Communication Studies 46 (1995): 131. See also William J. Seiler and Drew McGukin, “What We Know about the Basic Course: What has the Research Told Us?” Basic Communication Course Annual 1 (1989): 36; and Deanna D. Sellnow and Jason M. Martin, “The Basic Course in Communication: Where Do We Go from Here?” In The SAGE Handbook of Communication and Instruction, eds. Deanna L. Fassett and John T. Warren (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2010): 45.

3. Sherwyn P. Morreale, Scott A. Myers, Philip M. Backlund, and Cheri J. Simonds, “Study IX of the Basic Communication Course at Two- and Four-year U.S. Colleges and Universities: A Re-examination of Our Discipline's ‘Front Porch’.” Communication Education (2015): Advanced online edition.

4. See Larry K. Michaelsen, Arletta B. Knight, and L. Dee Fink, ed. Team-based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups in College Teaching (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2004).

5. Gary E. Miller, The Meaning of General Education: The Emergence of a Curriculum Paradigm (New York: Teachers College Press, 1988): 186–189.

6. John A. Campbell, “Oratory, Democracy and the Classroom,” in Democracy, Education, and the Schools, ed. Roger Soder (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996): 226–27.

7. A. L Evans, V. Evans, A. M. Lami Kanra, and O. S. L. Jones, “Public Speaking in a Democracy,” Journal of Instructional Psychology 31 (2004): 329.

8. Steven A. Beebe, “Our ‘Front Porch’,” Spectra (May 2013): 3, 22.

9. Morreale, Meyers, Blackburn, and Simonds, “Study IX,” 16.

10. Michaelsen, Knight, and Fink, Team-based Learning, vii.

11. L. Dee Fink, Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses (Hoboken, NJ: Jossey-Bass, 2003): 178.

12. Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith, The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-performance Organization (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2015): 5–7.

13. L. Dee Fink, “Beyond Small Groups: Harnessing the Extraordinary Power of Learning Teams,” in Team-based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups in College Teaching, eds. Larry K. Michaelsen, Arletta B. Knight, and L. Dee Fink (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2004): 7.

14. Michael Sweet and Laura M. Pelton-Sweet, “The Social Foundations of Team-based Learning: Students Accountable to Students,” New Directions for Teaching and Learning 116 (2008): 29.

15. Larry K. Michaelson, Warren E. Watson, and Robert E. Black, “A Realistic Test of Individual Versus Group Consensus Decision Making,” Journal of Applied Psychology 74 (1989): 834–39.

16. See Fink, “Beyond Small Groups,” 3–26, for a detailed explanation of how learning teams and groups differ.

17. Sherwyn P. Morreale, Michael M. Osborn, and Judy C. Pearson, “Why Communication is Important: A Rationale for the Centrality of the Study of Communication,” Journal of the Association for Communication Administration 29 (2000): 12–25.

18. See Dennis J. Devine, Laura D. Clayton, Jennifer L. Philips, Benjamin B. Dunford, and Sarah B. Melner, “Teams in Organizations: Prevalence, Characteristics, and Effectiveness,” Small Group Research 30 (1999): 678. Also see Diane Bandow, “Time to Create Sound Teamwork,” The Journal for Quality and Participation 24 (2001): 41.

19. Vincent Rousseau, Caroline Aube, and Andre Savoie, “Team Behaviors: A Review and an Integration of Frameworks,” Small Group Research 37 (2006): 540–41.

20. Leah E. LeFebvre, Gamze Yilmaz, and Luke LeFebvre, “Argumentative Communication in Cooperative Learning Groups: Member's Use of Evidence and Non-evidence,” paper presented to the Instructional and Developmental Interest Group at the International Communication Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico (May 21–24, 2015).

21. Larry K. Michaelsen, Tim O. Peterson, and Michael Sweet, “Building Learning Teams: The Key to Harnessing the Power of Small Groups in Higher Education,” in The SAGE Handbook of Management Learning, Education and Development, eds. Steve J. Kadel and Cynthia V. Fukami (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2009): 326–29.

22. Larry K. Michaelsen and Michael Sweet, “The Essential Elements of Team-based Learning,” New Directions for Teaching and Learning 116 (2008): 10.

23. Carolyn Birmingham and Mary McCord, “Group Process Research: Implications for Using Learning Groups,” in Team-based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups in College Teaching, eds. Larry K. Michaelsen, Arletta B. Knight, and L. Dee Fink (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2004): 76.

24. Sweet and Pelton-Sweet, “The Social Foundations,” 37.

25. See Donald Hayworth, ed. A Research into the Teaching of Public Speaking (Speech Association of America, 1939). Also see Edward R. Robinson, “What can the Speech Teacher do about Students' Stage Fright?” Speech Teacher 8 (1959): 8–14.

26. Graham D. Bodie, “A Racing Hear, Rattling Knees, and Ruminative Thoughts: Defining, Explaining, and Treating Public Speaking Anxiety,” Communication Education 59 (2010): 72.

27. Steven Booth-Butterfield and Molloy Gould, “The Communication Anxiety Inventory: Validation of State- and Context-communication Apprehension,” Communication Quarterly 34 (1986): 194–205.

28. James C. McCroskey, “Measures of Communication-bound Anxiety,” Speech Monographs 37 (1970): 269–77.

29. Jim Sibley and Dean X. Parmelee, “Knowledge is Not Longer Enough: Enhancing Professional Education with Team-based Learning,” New Directions for Teaching and Learning 116 (2008): 45.

30. Wendy S. Zabava Ford and Andrew D. Wolvin, “The Differential Impact of a Basic Communication Course on Perceived Communication Competencies in Class, Work, and Social Contexts,” Communication Education 42 (1993): 215–223. Also Thomas E. Robinson, “Communication Apprehension and the Basic Public Speaking Course: A National Survey of In-class Treatment Techniques,” Communication Education 46 (1997): 188–97.

31. Warren E. Watson, Kamalesh Kumar, and Larry K. Michaelsen, “Cultural Diversity's Impact on Group Process and Performance: Comparing Homogeneous and Culturally Diverse Task Groups,” Academy of Management Journal 36 (1993): 599. Also, Susan B. Feichtner and Elaine A. Davis, “Why Some Groups Fail: A Survey of Students' Experiences with Learning Groups,” Journal of Management Education 9 (1984): 68.

32. Carolyn Birmingham and Mary McCord, “Group Process Research: Implications for Using Learning Groups,” in Team-based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups in College Teaching, eds. Larry K. Michaelsen, Arletta B. Knight, and L. Dee Fink (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2004): 74–75.

33. Jim Sibley and Peter Ostafichuk, “Using Teams Effectively,” in Getting Started with Team-based Learning, eds. Jim Sibley and Peter Ostafichuk (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2004a): 67–68.

34. Fink, “Beyond Small Groups,” 12–15.

35. Fink, “Beyond Small Groups,” 14–15.

36. Bruce W. Tuckman, “Developmental Sequence in Small Groups,” Psychological Bulletin 63 (1965): 387–91.

37. Dennis J. Devine and Jennifer L. Philips, “Do Smarter Teams Do Better? A Meta-analysis of Cognitive Ability and Team Performance,” Small Group Research 32 (2001): 523–25.

38. Michaelsen and Sweet, “The Essential Elements of Team-based Learning,” 17.

39. Erin Saitta, Brett Morrison, Julee B. Waldrop, and Melody A. Bowdon, “Joining the Flipped Classroom Conversation,” in Best Practices for Flipping the College Classroom, eds. Julee B. Waldrop and Melody A. Bowdon (New York: Routledge, 2016): 2.

40. Thomas M. Haladyna, Developing and Validating Multiple-choice Test Items (New York: Erlbaum, 2004): 68.

41. Jim Sibley and Peter Ostafichuk, “Readiness Assurance Process,” in Getting Started with Team-based Learning, eds. Jim Sibley and Peter Ostafichuk (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2014b): 76.

42. Sibley and Ostafichuk, “Readiness Assurance Process,” 76.

43. Sibley and Ostafichuk, “Readiness Assurance Process,” 78.

44. Sibley and Ostafichuk, “Readiness Assurance Process,” 78.

45. Michael L. Epstein, Beth B. Epstein, and Gary M. Brosvic, “Immediate Feedback during Academic Testing,” Psychological Reports 88 (2001): 890–891.

46. Michael L. Epstein, Amber D. Lazarus, Tammy B. Calvano, Kelley A. Matthews, Rachel A. Hendel, Beth B. Epstein, and Gary M. Brosvic, “Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique Promotes Learning and Corrects Inaccurate First Responses,” Psychological Record 52 (2002): 188–89.

47. Sibley and Ostafichuk, “Readiness Assurance Process,” 83.

48. Tom L. Roberts, Paul B. Lowry, and Paul D. Sweeney, “An Evaluation of the Impact of Social Presence through Group Size and the Use of Collaborative Software on Group Member “Voice” in Face-to-Face and Computer-mediated Task Groups,” IEEE Transactions of Professional Communication 49 (2006): 40.

49. Hans-Peter Dommel and J. J. Garcia-Luna-Aceves, “A Coordination Framework and Architecture for Internet Groupware,” Journal of Network and Computer Applications 23 (2000): 422.

50. Swartz, “Interdisciplinary,” 131.

51. Sibley and Ostafichuk, “Readiness Assurance Process,” 81.

52. Larry K. Michaelsen, “Getting Started with Team-based Learning,” In Team-based Learning: A Transformative use of Small Groups in College Teaching, eds. Larry K. Michaelsen, Arletta B. Knight, and L. Dee Fink (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2004): 31.

53. Lev S. Vygotsky, Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1978): 79–91.

54. Jim Sibley and Peter Ostafichuk, “Application Activities,” in Getting Started with Team-based Learning, eds. Jim Sibley and Peter Ostafichuk (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2014c): 118.

55. Michaelsen and Sweet, “The Essential Elements of Team-based Learning,” 20–21.

56. Morreale, Osborn, and Pearson, “Why Communication is Important,” 1–2.

57. National Postsecondary Education Cooperative, NPEC Sourcebook on Assessment: Definitions and Assessment Methods for Communication, Leadership, Information Literacy, Quantitative Reasoning, and Quantitative Skills (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education—Educational Resources Information Center, 2005): 12.

58. Sherwyn P. Morreale, David Worley, and Barbara Hugenberg, “The Basic Communication Course at Two- and Four-year U.S. Colleges and Universities: Study VII—The 40th Anniversary,” Communication Education 59 (2010): 411.

59. Rudolph F. Verderber, “The Introductory Communication Course: The Public Speaking Approach,” Basic Communication Course Annual 2 (1991): 3–4.

60. John A. Campbell, “Oratory, Democracy and the Classroom,” in Democracy, Education, and the Schools, ed. Roger Soder (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1996): 220.

61. Luke LeFebvre, Leah E. LeFebvre, and Mike Allen, “The Unaware, Accurate, and Overly Critical: Video Technology Use for Improving Public Speaking Competency,” Basic Communication Course Annual 28 (2016): 116–165.

62. Don B. Morlan, 1993. “The History and Development of the Basic Course,” in Teaching and Directing the Basic Communications Course, eds. Lawrence W. Hugenberg, Pamela L. Gray, and Douglas M. Trank (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1993): 4.

63. Luke LeFebvre and William Keith. “Preparing to Prepare Quality Speakers: What New Basic Course Instructors Need to Know,” Basic Communication Course Annual 27 (2015): 20–21.

64. Campbell, “Oratory, Democracy and the Classroom,” 227.

65. Stephen E. Lucas, “Teaching Public Speaking,” in Teaching Communication: Theory, Research, and Methods, eds. Anita L. Vangelisti, John A. Daly, and Gustav W. Friedrich (Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 1999): 77.

66. Robert E. Carlson and Deborah Smith-Howell, “Classroom Public Speaking Assessment: Reliability and Validity of Selected Evaluation Instruments,” Communication Education 44 (1995): 92.

67. Danelle D. Stevens and Antonia J. Levi, Introduction to Rubrics: An Assessment Tool to Save Grading Time, Convey Effective Feedback and Promote Student Learning (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2005): 3.

68. Linda Suskie, Assessing Student Learning: A Common Sense Guide (San Francisco, CA: Wiley, 2010): 142.

69. Susan M. Brookhart, “Assessment Theory for College Classrooms,” New Directions for Teaching and Learning 100 (2004): 6–7.

70. Craig A. Mertler, “Designing Scoring Rubrics for Your Classroom,” Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation 7 (2001). http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=7&n=25.

71. Suskie, “Assessing Student Learning,” 38.

72. Justin Kruger and David Dunning, “Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One's Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-assessments,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 77 (1999): 1121.

73. LeFebvre and Keith, “Preparing to Prepare Quality Speakers,” 24–25.

74. See Lev S. Vygotsky, Thought and Language (Cambridge, MA: MIT press, 1962). Also see Lev S. Vygotsky, Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes (Boston: Harvard University Press, 1978).

75. Eric Z. Liu, Sunny S. Lin, Chi-Huang Chiu, and Shyan-Ming Yuan, “Web-based Peer Review: The Learner as Both Adapter and Reviewer,” IEEE Transactions on Education 44 (2001): 246–47.

76. Arlett B. Knight, “Team-based Learning: A Strategy for Transforming the Quality of Teaching and Learning,” in Team-based Learning: A Transformative Use of Small Groups in College Teaching, ed. Larry K. Michaelsen, Arletta B. Knight, and L. Dee Fink (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2004): 205.

77. See Mark Mabrito, “Electronic Mail as a Vehicle for Peer Response,” Written Communication 8 (1991): 509–32. Also see Jane Siegel, Vitaly Dubrovsky, Sara Kiesler, and Timothy W. McGuire, “Group Processes in Computer-mediated Communication,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 37 (1986): 179.

78. See Linda B. Nilson, “Improving Student Peer Feedback,” College Teaching 51 (2003): 34–39. Also see Zane K. Quible, “The Efficacy of Several Writing Feedback Systems,” Business Communication Quarterly 60 (1997): 120–21.

79. See Vinicius M. Kern, Lucina M. Saraiva, and Roberto Carlos dos Santos Pacheco, “Peer Review in Education: Promoting Collaboration, Written Expression, Critical Thinking, and Professional Responsibility,” Education and Information Technologies 8 (2003): 37–46. See also Yong Zhao, “The Effects of Anonymity on Computer-Mediated Peer Review,” International Journal of Educational Telecommunication 4 (1998): 311–45.

80. Ruiling Lu and Linda Bol, “A Comparison of Anonymous Versus Identifiable e-peer Review on College Student Writing Performance and the Extent of Critical Feedback,” Journal of Interactive Online Learning 6 (2007): 102.

81. Joseph S. Valacich, Alan R. Dennis, and Jay F. Nunamaker, “Group Size and Anonymity Effects on Computer-mediated Idea Generation,” Small Group Research 23 (1992): 69.

82. Jan Strever and Kathryn Newman, “Using Electronic Peer Audience and Summary Writing with ESL Students,” Journal of College Reading and Learning 28 (1997): 29.

83. Luke LeFebvre, “Outline Building,” in A Speechmaker's Reference, ed. Luke LeFebvre (New York: Pearson, 2015): 27.

84. Earl Thompson, “An Experimental Investigation of the Relative Effectiveness of Organization Structure in Oral Communication,” Southern Journal of Speech Communication 26 (1960): 67.

85. Allen Newell and Paul S. Rosenbloom, “Mechanisms of Skill Acquisition and the Law of Practice,” in Cognitive Skills and Their Acquisition, ed. John R. Anderson (Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1981): 1–3.

86. Eldon E. Baker, “The Immediate Effects of Perceived Speaker Disorganization on Speaker Credibility and Audience Attitude Change in Persuasive Speaking,” Western Speech 29 (1986): 160–61.

87. Peter Elbow, “High Stakes and Low Stakes in Assigning and Responding to Writing,” New Directions for Teaching and Learning 69 (1997): 7.

88. Roxanne Harde and Sandy Bugeja, “Team-based Learning in the First-year English Classroom,” in Team-based Learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities, eds. Michael Sweet and Larry K. Michaelsen (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2012): 150.

89. Jim Sibley and Peter Ostafichuk, “The Importance of Accountability,” in Getting Started with Team-based Learning, eds. Jim Sibley and Peter Ostafichuk (Sterling, VA: Stylus, 2014d): 143.

90. Mike Searby and Tim Ewers, “An Evaluation of the Use of Peer Assessment in Higher Education: A Case Study in the School of Music, Kingston University,” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 22 (1997): 371–83.

91. Clare Brindley and Susan Scoffield, “Peer Assessment in Undergraduate Programs,” Teaching in Higher Education 3 (1998): 87.

92. Cestone, Christina M., Ruth E. Levine, and Derek R. Lane, “Peer Assessment and Evaluation in Team-based Learning,” New Directions for Teaching and Learning 116 (2008): 69–78.

93. Seiler and McGukin, “What We Know about the Basic Course,” 35.

94. Michaelsen, “Getting Started with Team-based Learning,” 35.

95. Swartz, “Interdisciplinary,” 137.

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