As a result, I developed a small-group based teaching strategy called Team Learning. Since then, I have used Team Learning with almost 1,400 groups in my own courses, and have worked with faculty at hundreds of colleges and universities worldwide who are attempting to use learning groups in their own courses. Based on that experience, I have come to realize two things about the management of learning groups. First, with a modest investment in training and planning, Team Learning can be used effectively by most faculty members and in virtually any discipline.
Faculty have three key concerns about using learning groups.
This means that students have to take greater individual responsibility for initially becoming familiar with the basic content. As a practical matter, the only way to ensure that students are doing the necessary pre-class work is to have them complete some sort of an individual assignment prior to group discussions. These readiness assessment tests virtually ensure that students will seriously attempt to do their pre-class work because they are directly accountable for their individual preparation in two ways. First, they are accountable to the instructor because the individual scores count as part of the course grade. Second, they are responsible to their peers because, during the group test, each member is invariably asked to voice and defend his or her choice on every question.