Are Two Teachers Better than One? Team Teaching in TBL

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Pedagogy
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Team-based learning (TBL) presents significant pedagogical and content demands for medical science educators.
• Implementing TBL effectively requires specialized teaching skills beyond subject matter expertise.
• Co-teaching models are being explored to address the complexities of TBL facilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the roles and interactions of co-teachers in medical science TBL sessions.
• To analyze the questioning strategies employed by Content Experts and Facilitators.
• To understand how collaborative teaching approaches contribute to effective TBL.

Main Methods:

• Observation of twelve TBL sessions in medical science education.
• Analysis of interactions between Content Experts and Facilitators.
• Qualitative and quantitative assessment of teacher questioning techniques.

Main Results:

• Distinct quantitative and qualitative differences were observed in the questions asked by Content Experts and Facilitators.
• The interaction patterns between the two teacher roles were identified.
• Complementary questioning strategies were found to be a key factor in session dynamics.

Conclusions:

• Co-teaching with a Content Expert and a Facilitator is a viable strategy for managing TBL complexity.
• The distinct questioning approaches of each role contribute synergistically to effective TBL.
• Optimizing TBL effectiveness relies on understanding and leveraging complementary pedagogical roles.