A Team-based Learning Guide for Faculty in the Health Professions

Team-Based Learning (TBL) is a well-defined pedagogy that combines individual pre-class guided learning with small group in-class active learning. TBL emphasizes the importance of individual accountability, team-work, critical thinking, and the application of basic, fundamental concepts in solving real world problems. The role of the instructor is to clearly articulate the learning outcomes and objectives, create challenging problems for students to solve, and probe their reasoning in reaching conclusions. The purpose of this guide is to provide faculty with a concise set of instructions on how to create a course built on a TBL frame. Using the backward design method, faculty will be guided through the process of first developing learning outcomes, then identifying fundamental course concepts and defining specific learning objectives, followed by generating guided learning materials, and finally creating robust instruments for assessing student learning.