Using Team-Based Learning to
Support Individual Assignments
and Gather Peer Review Feedback
in Large First Year Classes
Dr. Douglas G Carrie
BUSINESS 101 and 102
Business and Enterprise 1 and 2
The central goal of these courses is to help students
understand what makes a business successful,
including how each of the key functions of a
business contributes to its survival and
performance.
Content
Process
Inspiration
BUSINESS 101
Content
Module 1: Business Matters
– Why does business matter?
– How can you develop a business mindset?
– How can you build your business career?
Module 2: Creating and Capturing Value
– What is a viable business model?
– What is entrepreneurship and innovation?
– How should businesses behave?
Module 3: Leading and Organising
– What roles do managers play?
– What makes an effective leader?
– What are the qualities of effective teams?
BUSINESS 102
Content
Module 4: Understanding the Business Context
– What should you understand about the business
environment?
– What should you understand about competitors?
– What should you understand about customers?
Module 5: Meeting the Market
– What makes up the marketing offer?
– How do relationships matter?
– How do businesses and customers co-create value?
Module 6: Managing Operations and People
– How do businesses manage their operations?
– What motivates employees?
– How can businesses develop their workforce?
Process
•
•
•
•
Critical thinking
Working in teams
Business communication skills
Information literacy skills
Inspiration
• Why does business matter?
• Why is the study of business important?
• What can you do to make the most out
of your years at University?
• How can you make more informed
choices about degrees/majors?
Team-Based Learning
Teams
•
•
•
2200 students
Divided into 22 streams of approx 100 students
Each stream is divided into teams of 7
TBL Laboratory
•
A dedicated space with tables that seat eight,
allowing the staff facilitator to sit and engage
with each team of seven students
•
The room is designed to allow for effective
intra-team and inter-team communication and
interactivity
The Individual Assignments
• Four assignment “cycles” with two individual
written assignments in each course
• Essays in BUSINESS 101 followed by Business
Reports in BUSINESS 102
(A) Using TBL to Support the Assignments
• Team-based learning application exercises are
sprinkled throughout each course to support the
assignment writing process and the upcoming peer
review process
• There are application exercises related to essay
and report writing, academic referencing,
information literacy, giving and receiving feedback,
etc.
Grading rubric for your individual assignment
Excellent
Content
Organisation
Writing
Style
Academic
Integrity
Passable
Not Passable
A very clear focus on
the report
purpose/question is
maintained
A clear focus on the
report
purpose/question is
maintained
Capable
The focus is
adequate but could
be improved in some
places
Overall, the focus on
the report purpose/
question is unclear
or inconsistent
Strong skills in
analysis are
demonstrated and all
aspects of the
question are very
well addressed
Skills in analysis are
demonstrated and all
aspects of the
question are well
addressed
Adequate skills in
analysis are
demonstrated and
most aspects of the
question are
addressed
Analysis is weak and
most content in the
report did not
address the question
Highly convincing
arguments are used
and are supported
by relevant material
Convincing
arguments are used
and are supported
by relevant material
Inconsistent or
unconvincing
arguments are
sometimes used
and/or are
sometimes
unsupported by
relevant material
Inconsistent or
unconvincing
arguments are
generally used and
are unsupported by
relevant material
Arguments and
paragraphs are very
logically sequenced
Arguments and
paragraphs are
logically sequenced
There is reasonable
logic, but some
arguments and
paragraphs could be
better sequenced
Arguments and
paragraphs are not
logically sequenced
Paragraphs are fully
and very effectively
developed
Paragraphs are fully
developed
Paragraphs are
sometimes underdeveloped
Paragraphs are not
sufficiently
developed
The report is very
professional and is
very clearly
structured with all
required components
The report is
professional and is
clearly structured
with all the required
components
The report is
adequate but the
structure and/or
professionalism
could be improved
The report is not
clearly structured
and/or is missing
key components
Clear and highly
readable
Clear and easy to
follow
Readable but clarity
can be improved in
various places
Not readable, hard
to follow, may have
inappropriate or
overly informal use
of language
No or almost no
errors in
punctuation,
grammar and
spelling
May have a few
errors in
punctuation,
grammar and
spelling
May have some
errors in
punctuation,
grammar and
spelling
Many errors in
punctuation,
grammar and
spelling that affect
readability
Skilful control of
sentence structures
Good control of
sentence structures
Room for
improvement in
sentence structures
Poor control of
sentence structures
All sources are
correctly referenced
and cited
All sources are
correctly referenced
and cited
Has integrity overall,
but there may be a
few formatting
errors in referencing
and citation
Significant errors in
referencing and
citation
Quotations are used
very effectively (if
they are used at all)
Quotations are
properly used (if
they are used at all)
Quotations may be
used somewhat too
often
Quotations are
overused or
inappropriately used
Comments
12
• A comprehensive marking
rubric is provided to
students at the start of
each course
Example
Engaging with the marking rubric:
• Sample assignments on a different topic
• All teams in a stream given the same set of three
sample assignments
• Using the grading rubric, the team reads and
ranks the assignments, determines a grade, a
provides the most compelling reason why
• Teams simultaneously report using their voting
cards (A, B, C or D)
(B) Taking advantage of team structures
when providing feedback and marking the
assignments
• Students receive multiple sets of feedback on their
assignment, including feedback from an in-class
team peer review process
Submitting their assignments
• This is a largely paperless system
• Students submit their assignments in the system
via email
Feedback Loop 1
• All members of a particular team are
electronically allocated an identical
set of seven assignments from other
students elsewhere in the course
• An individual peer review process
takes place where each student must
use the assignment marking rubric to
peer review these seven assignments,
plus their own assignment
Feedback Loop 2
Students assess the
quality of the
feedback that they
have received from
other students
Feedback Loop 3
Teams moderate and come to a group peer
review consensus on each assignment – they
provide comments and recommend (but do not
determine) a mark
Feedback Loop 4:
Staff markers review and consolidate all of the previous
feedback, add value through further comments, and determine
the final marks
Reflections
• This process allows students and staff to co-create
value in the form of far more comprehensive
feedback than one would normally see with
traditional University assignment marking processes
• This process also helps students to develop skills in
receiving and engaging with feedback, especially
when there are alternate views on their work
• We have been really pleased with how the teambased learning environment has contributed to the
success of what remains an individual assignment
Challenges
• Misperceptions that students were grading rather
than reviewing: Solution in 2012 is to separate
the peer review (by students) and marking (by
staff) processes
• Assignment workload issues relative to other first
year courses: Solution in 2012 is to have a single
assignment in each course (rather than two)