Team-based Learning

Categories: Ahrq

Etym. team (n.) applied in Old English to groups of persons working together for some purpose, especially “group of people acting together to bring suit;” modern sense of “persons associated in some joint action” is from 1520s. Team spirit is recorded from 1928. Team player attested from 1886, originally in baseball.

Etym. learning (n.) Old English leornung “learning, study,” from leornian.

Definition

A learning method that makes use of small group discussion and collaborative, self-directed study to foster new learning as opposed to imparting information. After a period of preliminary individual accountability, teams of learners compete with each other to learn information and solve problems, This is in distinction to traditional learning in which information is imparted from teacher to learner.

A learning method with many similarities to Problem Based Learning (PBL). Unlike PBL, where a complex, open-ended, case is given without the information to solve it, team-based learning capitalizes on the use of carefully chosen learning activities based on reading assignments (Michaelson, Parmelee, & McMahon, 2008).