Learning through active processing is more effective than by transmission of information alone. When learning is carried out collaboratively with peers then the evidence suggests that it is more effective than learning alone. Learning using an active and collaborative learning pedagogy that scaffolds learning using social constructivist learning theory, promotes peer learning and collaborative decision-making helps promote deeper approaches to learning and develop skills that enhance employability and confidence in learners. This project introduces Team-Based Learning as an active and collaborative learning pedagogy to teachers in participating schools in Europe. It will develop multimedia Open Educational Resources accessible via an online repository that will be used to develop both teacher-trainers as TBL Trainers and school teachers as TBL Practitioners, so that they can confidently develop learning resources for, and facilitate Team-Based Learning in the classroom. Peer reviewed exemplar curriculum resources will also be developed, piloted, evaluated and uploaded to the online repository. The project will also develop and test tools to evaluate teachers' experiences of TBL students’ perceptions of TBL as a conduit to developing workplace skills, and a comprehensive exploration of participants experiences and perceptions of TBL as a learning pedagogy and an evaluation of the project. Participants will include teacher-trainers who will become TBL trainers and school teachers who will become TBL Practitioners. Participants will learn from and with each other during three cross-sector interdisciplinary multiplier events. Project outcomes will include: high quality Open Educational Resources hosted on a newly developed online repository; a number of newly accredited TBL Trainers and TBL Practitioners, and research and evaluation tools, that will result in research outputs and a project report that includes a project evaluation and recommendations. This project will impact on educators in schools, colleges and universities in Europe with the aim of developing sustainable TBL communities of practice, therebuy catalysing further development and dissemination of the use of TBL in Europe. The use of TBL has been growing in Universities in the UK; this project could catalyse it further so that it becomes more mainstream in schools and colleges across Europe. Moving to a structured approach to the flipped classroom, where students are incentivised to prepare for classes, and where increased class time is dedicated to applying knowledge using active and collaborative learning will ideally lead to deeper approaches to learning, better engaged students, increased learner confidence, and enhanced employability skills.
We wanted to recruit and train two groups of secondary school teachers in the use of TBL so that they could develop their own TBL teaching resources and were confident in using the pedagogical approach with their own students. The first group of teachers would help mentor and support the second group in situ as they would be based in the same schools. We also wanted to evaluate the project and disseminate the results to others. In the process of achieving this we wanted to: • Develop CPD resources that teachers could use to learn about TBL • Develop workshop training resources that a TBL trainer could use to train other teachers • Develop, pilot and refine a series of multidisciplinary TBL curricula resources that other teachers in similar disciplines could use in their own classrooms • Establish two international Communities of Practice for peer support • Create an online repository of the resources developed in the project • Evaluate the project and carry out a research project to investigate the TBL experiences of staff and students • Disseminate the outcomes, outputs and experiences to others who might be interested in using a TBL approach
We applied for this project to investigate whether the increased engagement and learner and teacher satisfaction we'd seen using Team-Based Learning (TBL) in Higher Education could be replicated in schools in Europe. By recruiting and training several teachers in the use of TBL we sought to support them to develop and pilot various subject specific TBL curricula resources. The aim was to facilitate more active and collaborative learning and provide a structured approach to using flipped teaching where the focus of class time is on application of knowledge rather than knowledge transmission. We believe that we have facilitated a catalyst for pedagogical change in these schools. The feedback from teachers and students has been very positive with other teachers interested in using TBL in their classrooms. Introducing TBL has, according to the teachers, increased student engagement, increased the quality of learning and enhanced the teachers’ experiences of teaching. The needs we have addressed include: • Better student engagement • Promoting deeper approaches to learning • Increasing learner confidence • Developing transferable skills e.g. team-working and problem solving • Increasing teacher job satisfaction and career progression