Getting started with team-based learning (TBL): An introduction

Instructors of active-learning classes in economics face the challenges of motivating students to prepare before class and engaging fully in class activities. Team-based learning (TBL) pedagogy meets these challenges by (1) placing students in fixed, instructor-created teams that develop the ability to work productively together, (2) holding students accountable to the instructor and their teammates both for their efforts to prepare before class and for their ability to interact constructively with teammates, and (3) presenting learning activities in a highly-structured course format that provides students multiple opportunities to express their understanding and receive feedback from peers. The authors of this article describe how the elements of TBL courses work in concert to motivate student out-of-class preparation and in-class engagement to increase student learning of economics.