Evaluation of student perception of the Team-based Learning method (APA-TBL): Instrument construction and validation

Team-based learning (TBL) is an educational strategy based on learning teams. Despite the advantages identified in the TBL literature, student perceptions must be better investigated using valid, reliable instruments. This study constructed and validated an instrument to evaluate student perceptions of the TBL method. Content and appearance assessment, construct validation and reliability analysis were performed. A total of 246 undergraduate nursing and medical students from a private institution in São Paulo, Brazil, participated in the study. After content validation, the instrument had 24 items distributed in five dimensions. Based on exploratory factor analysis, the instrument was appropriate, and the items were regrouped in four dimensions, with Cronbach's alpha values over 0.70. The Student Perception Evaluation of the TBL method (Avaliação da Percepção do Aluno-Team-Based Learning - APA-TBL) is an instrument with strong validity indicators. After validation, the revised instrument reflected that the student's perspective of method evaluation is not focused on TBL's formal execution but on the involved agents, their interaction and their influence on one another.