How EchoPoll helps to foster collaboration and student success through a Team-Based Learning approach
by Alison Maloney and Chris Clow
Professor Simon Tweddell, teaching in the School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences at the University of Bradford, recognises that traditional higher education teaching – heavily reliant on lectures and individual assessments – often falls short in inspiring critical thinking and fostering the collaborative skills essential for today’s workforce. Over a decade ago, Tweddell had noticed that students weren’t always coming to lectures, and they didn’t seem to be engaged or using the knowledge they were being given before they came to the workshops – even with a flipped learning approach. A working group was established to look at the future of Pharmacy education and at the development of skills considered critical for the workplace; perhaps unsurprisingly critical thinking and the ability to work as part of a team was ranked as vital when assessing a student’s employability.
Based on the findings of this working group, the School moved to a Team-Based Learning (TBL) approach in 2012. At the core of TBL lies the Individual and Team Readiness Assurance Tests: an individual pre-class assessment used to drive a team-based assessment that encourages collaborative learning as students work together to refine their knowledge. These tests are followed by in-depth group activities where students apply their learning to real-world challenges.
Even though the first cohort of students were a little confused by the new teaching method, the implementation of TBL yielded remarkable results. Students became more actively engaged in their studies and demonstrated a heightened enthusiasm for learning. Professor Tweddell found that students were now incentivised to do the work before they came to class.
Students were more actively involved, whether that's actively involved with the person next to them or actively involved in discussion between teams, or between us (the academic staff) and the team members.
Introducing TBL to the students at Bradford highlighted for Twedell the importance of explaining the learning process. Students needed to understand that learning is not simply passive absorption but requires active processing. This approach, though demanding, is essential for developing higher cognitive understanding.
How EchoPoll helps to support a TBL approach
Technology has emerged as a powerful ally in supporting TBL. In the beginning, Professor Tweddell used PointSolutions – with physical clickers in the hands of the students – to facilitate active learning and collaboration among team members, and as a mechanism to convert scores into marks.
Over time, he sought to find a cloud-based solution that was not reliant on dedicated physical technology or space. With the release of EchoPoll in 2023, Tweddell immediately recognised the increased advantages that the solution provided to a TBL approach. “EchoPoll is a simple tool to use. It’s great for creating questions that stimulate discussion between the students that create debates.” says Professor Tweddell. “It also allows students see how they are progressing and how their team benchmarks against other teams.”
Students have also reported the ease of being able to use their own devices, grateful that they no longer need to ensure they have clickers with them.
Lead by the understanding that effective questioning strategies and data-driven decisions are both essential for student learning success, Tweddell uses the analytical data in EchoPoll to identify specific concepts that students find challenging, tailoring the teaching to address these areas, and ensuring that all students are prepared to apply their knowledge effectively. By regularly reviewing and refining questions with colleagues, Tweddell can ensure question difficulty is tailored to the specific stage of a TBL approach. These will include plausible distractors, thought-provoking prompts that spark team discussions, and questions that facilitate both recall and application of knowledge.
Expanding the use of Echo360
Building on the success of using EchoPoll to support synchronous learning activities, Professor Tweddell is working to leverage additional EchoPoll features to enhance asynchronous learning. Using the assignment feature in EchoPoll, he will be able to improve the pre-work through the embedding of self-paced polls within course content, help to facilitate independent learning and enable students to test their understanding before they come to class.
From an EchoVideo perspective, Tweddell has seen the benefit that short, bite-sized videos produced by colleagues have had on asynchronous student learning and is excited about leveraging several EchoVideo features to engage and empower his students in their learning, including embedding polls in video to create interactive media. EchoVideo also provides the ability for students to create recordings of their own mock consultations, to be used for peer review amongst their team as well as being a mechanism to develop their communication skills.
Professor Simon Tweddell’s pioneering work in implementing Team-Based Learning at the University of Bradford serves as an inspiration for educators seeking to create more engaging and effective learning environments. The positive feedback provided by students on the implementation of EchoPoll has demonstrated the value of leveraging technology that is simple and quick to use and improves the learning experience. By leveraging EchoPoll, Tweddell enhances student learning through collaborative problem-solving, fostering effective communication and critical thinking skills, while preparing students to excel.