Team-based learning: Moving forward in curriculum innovation: A commentary

Team-based learning (TBL) is an instructional strategy developed by Professor Larry Michaelsen at the University of Oklahoma’s Business School, USA, in the early 1990s. He developed it because his class enrollments were increasing, he questioned the effectiveness of lectures, and he wanted to use classroom time for students to solve the kinds of problems they would face in the business world. Professor Michaelsen discovered that his business school students had had ‘small group’ assignments and activities in other courses, but they felt that there was often great variability regarding how much each student contributed. Through trial-and-error, he crafted a structure for TBL that works to build both individual, small group, and whole class ACCOUNTABILITY. The three foundational components are: (1) Advanced Preparation, (2) Readiness Assurance, and (3) Group Application, with peer evaluation that matters and an appeals procedure that stimulates additional learner engagement with the content. Students come to class on time, prepared, and one faculty member conducts the session with the whole class (as few as 10 students to 120þ students; Michaelsen et al. 2007).