Quick and Easy Strategies to Build Effective Learning Teams

1
Quick and Easy Strategies to Build Effective
Learning Teams

• Robert Philpot, PhD, PA-C
• Executive Director
• Team Based Learning Collaborative

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Objectives

• At the conclusion of this session participants
  will be able to
• successfully lead several team building
  activities.
• employ techniques and activities to build
  learning teams that communicate effectively.
• successfully develop and improve cooperation and
  problem-solving skills in learning teams.
• successfully improve learning teams ability to
  adapt to change.

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Agenda

• Introduction to team building
• Team activities to foster communication
• Team activities to improve problem solving skills
• Team activities for dealing with change
• Discussion, questions and answers

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What is a team?

• A group of people or animals linked in a common
  purpose.
• Especially appropriate for conducting tasks that
  are high in complexity and have many
  interdependent subtasks.
• Members have complementary skills and generate
  synergy through a coordinated effort
• Each member maximizes his or her strengths and
  minimize his or her weaknesses.

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Learning Team Discussion Points

• What is a learning team?
• How does it differ from a group?
• What is required to build learning teams?

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How to Run a Team Building Exercise

• Select the right exercise for your team(s)
• Prepare for and rehearse the exercise
• Explain the exercise to your team(s)
• Check for understanding before beginning
• Run the exercise
• Debrief the exercise

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What could go wrong?

• Unwilling participants
• Participants dont understand directions.
• Materials break, dont work or not enough.
• Overly competitive participants.
• Participants dont join the debrief discussion.
• Someone dominates the debrief.
• The debrief gets out of hand.
• They dont get what you wanted them to get from
  the exercise.

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Team activities to get to know each other

• Penny for your thoughts
• Gossip time
• Ready, Set, Reorganize!
• Similarities and Differences

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Team activities to foster communication

• Card Triangles
• 2 Negotiation
• Washing Machines
• Origami

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Team activities to improve problem solving
skills

• Seven Hands
• Improve This
• One-worded Stories
• Paper Shuffle
• Labels
• Puzzled

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Team activities for dealing with change

• Guess and switch
• Index Towers
• Human Machines
• Puzzled Thumbs

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• Discussion, questions and answers

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References

• Ledlow, S, Center for Learning and Teaching
  Excellence, Cooperative Learning in Higher
  Education http//clte.asu.edu/active/clinhighed.pd
  f accessed June 18, 2008
• Miller, BC, Quick Team-Building Activities for
  Busy Managers 50 Exercises That Get Results in
  Just 15 Minutes. New York, NY, AMACOM, 2004
• Fink, LD, Beyond Small Groups Harnessing the
  Extraordinary Power of Learning Teams in
  Michealson LK, Knight, AB, and Fink, LD, eds.
  Team Based Learning A Transformative Use of
  Small Groups in College Teaching, Sterling, VA
  Stylus20043-26
• Senge, PM, The Fifth Discipline. New York, NY
  Doubleday, 1990