The Diamond Framework for team-based active learning for physiology courses

Benjamin Bloom published his Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook I: Cognitive Domain in 1956 (New York: David McKay, Co.) to help educators develop learning objectives for teaching. Several modifications have been made since then to adapt Bloom's taxonomy to various uses and disciplines (Crowe A, Dirks C, Wenderoth MP. CBE Life Sci Educ 7: 368-381, 2008; Orgill BD, Nolin J. StatPearls. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing, 2023; Thompson AR, O'Loughlin VD. Anat Sci Educ 8: 493-501, 2015). In terms of the "Introduction of the Idea," as social constructivist educators, the authors of this article felt the need to adjust Bloom's taxonomy to match the unique characteristics of team-based learning (TBL) in physiology courses. In terms of "Outcomes," we are introducing the use of TBL for teaching physiology in undergraduate and graduate physiology courses that could be easily translated into other disciplines. Additionally, we are introducing the Diamond Framework for TBL, a modified Bloom's taxonomy to match the unique characteristics of TBL and to guide the writing of measurable learning outcomes and assignments.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Team-based learning (TBL) has gained popularity as an educational framework that facilitates teaching conceptual and procedural subjects. However, this technique is less popular among physiology and biomedical sciences. Here, we describe a step-by-step guide for incorporating this learning approach for physiology. Further, we created the Diamond Framework for TBL, a visual taxonomy inspired by Bloom's taxonomy, designed explicitly for TBL, in which the "application" component is at the core of the diamond.