Scholarly Analysis of TBL

a group of pharmacy student smiles while working in the pharmacy lab on the Regis campus
Notable Quotes:

“Key benefits to this pedagogy are student engagement, improved communication skills, and enhanced critical-thinking abilities. In most cases student satisfaction and academic performance are also noted.”1

Supporting Data

bar chart depicting the following data: For each of the represented modules, Dynamics, Single Dose, Multiple Dose, Violations, Physiologic, there was a visible improvement in scores on the iRAT and gRAT.

There was significant improvement in the team scores for each module. The iRAT scores averaged over 80% for any given module (median 83%, average 86%, range 82%- 94%), whereas the gRAT scores averaged over 95% for any given module (median 97%, mean 97%, range 96%-98%)3

Figure 1. Comparison of individual and team quizzes from the readiness-assessment process. Data presented as mean and standard deviations. Abbreviations: iRAT = individual quiz; gRAT = team quiz. * p < 0.001.



Mean percentage change in scores was greater in the TBL versus the control group in post-test 1 (8.8% vs 4.3%, p = 0.023) and post-test 2 (11.4% vs 3.4%, p = 0.001). After adjustment for gender and second year examination grades, mean percentage change in scores remained greater in the TBL versus the control group for post-test 1 (10.3% vs 5.8%, mean difference 4.5%,95% CI 0.7 - 8.3%, p = 0.021) and post-test 2 (13.0% vs 4.9%, mean difference 8.1%,95% CI 3.7 - 12.5%, p = 0.001), indicating further score improvement 48 hours post-TBL.5

Figure 2

Line graph depicting the following data: Mean percentage change in test scores was the same at baseline but increased at a faster rate with a greater overall level of achievement for students who participated in TBL versus the control group.

Mean percentage change in test scores, adjusted for gender and second year examination grades.

Figure 3

Line graph depicting the following data: the adjusted mean percentage change in Mean percentage test scores was the same at baseline but increased at a faster rate with a greater overall level of achievement for students who participated in TBL versus the control group. “Weak” students in particular experienced significant gains.

Adjusted mean percentage change in test scores, strong vs weak students.

The 178 students (86 men, 92 women) included in the study achieved 5.9% (standard deviation [SD] 5.5) higher mean scores on examination questions that assessed their knowledge of pathology-based content learned using the TBL strategy compared with questions assessing pathology-based content learned via other methods (P < .001, t test). Students whose overall academic performance placed them in the lowest quartile of the class benefited more from TBL than did those in the highest quartile. Lowest-quartile students' mean scores were 7.9% (SD 6.0) higher on examination questions related to TBL modules than examination questions not related to TBL modules, whereas highest-quartile students' mean scores were 3.8% (SD 5.4) higher (P = .001, two-way analysis of variance).6



References

1Ofstad,W and Brunner, L; “Team-Based Learning in Pharmacy Education,” American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, May 13, 2013, v 77(4).

2Attia, R and Mandoor, A,”Team-based learning-adopted strategy in pharmacy education: pharmacology and medicinal chemistry students’ perceptions,” Future Journal of Pharmaceutical Science, Feb 23, 2023, v 9(1).

3Persky, A. M. (2012), “The impact of team-based learning on a foundational pharmacokinetics course,” American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 76(2), 31.

4Letassy, N. A., Fugate, S. E., Medina, M. S., Stroup, J. S., & Britton, M. L. (2008). “Using team-based learning in an endocrine module taught across two campuses,” American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, v.72(5); Oct 15, 2008.

5Tan, N. C., Kandiah, N., Chan, Y. H., Umapathi, T., Lee, S. H., & Tan, K. (2011), “ A controlled study of team-based learning for undergraduate clinical neurology education,” BMC Medical Education, 11, 91. 72(5).

6Koles, P. G., Stolfi, A., Borges, N. J., Nelson, S., & Parmelee, D. X. (2010), “The impact of team-based learning on medical students' academic performance,” Academic Medicine, 85(11), 1739-1745.