Implementing TBL in an online life science course
With our success using TBL in the evolution and biodiversity
face-to-face course, we transferred materials to an online platform. We
wanted to offer this online course opportunity for students that had
schedule conflicts or that were studying abroad. Our initial online
offering in the summer of 2019 was opened for up to 30 students with the
vision of expanding to a larger course of 100 or more students. Thus, we
were able to successfully scale up when switching the large face-to-face
offering to online learning during the required social distancing period
in the spring of 2020. We preserved all of the learning outcomes used in
the face-to-face course and also made high-quality storylines, described
below, appropriate for online delivery via the Canvas Course Management
System. We pre-assigned teams, with four students per team, for the term
using the same team building guidelines described in the face-to-face
offering. We added two questions to the team survey about time zones and
preferred work times to facilitate synchronous meetings among team
members (see survey questions on Appendix 1). We also modified the
face-to-face TBL structure by moving the tRATs after the lecture, to
increase schedule flexibility by minimizing the number of team
synchronous meetings each week (See Figure 2). Individual assignments
(pre-lecture quizzes, iRATs, and lectures) were due mid-week and
included pre-lecture and lecture materials. Sections and all team
assignments associated with a lecture, including tRATs and Application
& Analysis, were due after lecture on the weekend. Our goal was to
create an engaging and inclusive course where students were accountable
for their efforts.