Alison’s flipped-learning approach helps students to get to know each other in the all-important first term of university, fostering sense of belonging. It engages them in their studies and assists them in acquiring key academic skills.

Teaching area

Team based learning (TBL) in large workshops of 40–50 students

Course

Business School core Level 4 module: Introduction to Business and Management, delivered by a team of tutors. Most Business School students take this module – about 450 in 2025/6. The majority are UK students from many different backgrounds. We have a small number of international and visiting and exchange students.

Description

As a first-semester module in Year 1, this is a high-risk module that sets student expectations for their time at Sussex. Talking to students a few years ago, some told me they felt isolated and still hadn’t made friends by the end of the first semester. I decided to apply team-based learning – a flipped-learning approach – to help the students to make connections with each other. Students undertake team-based learning in workshops to explore and encourage deep learning of the lecture content.

Workshop 1

The Week 1 workshop is structured to promote networking and making connections. Teams that students remain in for the whole semester are formed this week. One great way to do this is to ask students who live in Brighton to stand on one side of the room and those who live furthest away on the other side. Students need to work out where they fit in the line; this creates a lot of conversation and allows them to meet others who have something in common.

Students are then allocated a number: 1, 2, 3 etc. The tables are numbered, and students are asked to sit at the table with their number. The tutor reviews the groups and makes small adjustments, for example, for gender and degree specialism – Management, Accounting and Finance, Marketing or International Business – to ensure groups are as balanced as possible.

TBL workshops

TBL is run in Weeks 2, 3 and 5 in the first half of the semester. This is set up in Week 2, when TBL is explained to students. TBL features a 10-question multiple choice quiz (MCQ), based on the lecture material for that week, which occurs at the start of the workshops. Each answer scores a mark – the correct answer achieves full marks, and near misses achieve fewer marks. This ensures individuals and teams engage with the quiz, and the fear of achieving a zero is removed.

TBL process

• Students complete the MCQ individually in silence (no conferring!)
• They do it again as a team. Teams have two or three minutes to discuss their answers and select the correct one.
• The correct answers are then discussed and marks are justified.
• If students feel a question or answer is dubious, they have the right to appeal, which they must do after the class in writing. So far, this has not happened.

Watching the use of TBL is something else! The activity turns what could be a quiet session into a hub of discussion. Teams engage and really do discuss the content. Even if students haven’t prepared, they will take some knowledge away from the session. Student engagement is high, which reduces isolation, increases networking and develops the team to become high performing, which is vital for the business simulation which runs from Week 7-11.

Applying learning

The next stage is for the students to apply their learning to the week’s topic. As teams will be running a business simulation in the second part of the term (see chapter 20), activities are based around this. For example, in Week 2, teams decide on a name for their business, allocate roles and consider how they will manage their enterprise. In the lecture, we explore the Competing Values Framework (Quinn, 1988). Teams must apply one or two of the management models within this framework and justify how it will support and shape their organisation.

To complete the activity, each team has flipchart paper and there’s a flipchart pen for each student. They are asked to record all their work on the paper and to be as creative as possible. At the end of the activity, students are asked to get up and look at everyone’s work. Again, engagement is high. There is a lot of discussion and excitement about the upcoming simulation/game.

Getting up at the end of the activity allows students to network with others outside of their team, which fits with my remit to create a sociable class. It also helps students to see that their work is just as good as everyone else’s and reduces the fear of not being good enough. Moving around gives students who have reasonable adjustments (and even those who do not) a break from focusing on a task for too long. Finally, it encourages peer feedback, which is important in TBL pedagogy. It is a great way to end the session.

Sustainable Development Goals

To ensure students develop businesses that operate in a sustainable way, in Week 4 we introduce the TASK Certificate (the Assessment of Sustainability Knowledge) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Teams must decide which SDGs they will apply to their business and incorporate into their strategy. All students also participate in a Climate Fresk that week. Climate Fresk external trainers and University of Sussex Business School Climate Fresk Student Ambassadors and staff who are trained Freskers run the workshops.

Climate Fresks explore the causes of climate change, and the changes individuals and business can make to reduce them. All workshops are merged to create super workshops, so that students can network with different people and develop knowledge which they can apply to their business and in their own lives. Each year, some students attending the workshops go on to train as paid Climate Fresk Student Ambassadors. Both Climate Fresk and TASK have an employability aspect. We offer certificates on completion that are recognised by businesses, so students can add them to their LinkedIn profiles.

Outcomes

Fostering sense of belonging

Bringing a social element into a challenging situation when students have just arrived at the University helps them to feel included and settle into their studies. Students develop a team and get to know each other within half a term.

Student engagement

Engaging in team-based learning is new for all the students, even if they studied A-level Business, so it sustains their interest. They may have looked at climate change and sustainability before, but not through the sociable, interactive Climate Fresk. They also won’t have run a business simulation before – another interactive activity.

Academic skills and student support

This practical, hands-on module shows students how to understand a theory and apply it.

Comments

Student feedback

Facing the challenge of engaging in a new method of learning made me challenge myself and as a result, I have improved my teamwork skills.

Less stressful as you were able to share your ideas and work out problems together.

In terms of reducing anxiety, it made me realise everyone was in the same situation.

(Student quotes from Bailey 2023)

References

Bailey, A. (2023) ‘Developing Student Engagement and Ownership Through Team Based Learning in a Large Group Setting’, in 100 Ideas for Active Learning, Brighton: University of Sussex Library, https://doi.org/10.20919/OPXR1032/66 (accessed 27 May 2026)

Quinn, R. E. (1988) Beyond Rational Management, Jossey-Bass: San Francisco. Reprinted with permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Quinn, R. E.; Bright, D. S.; Sturm, R. E.; (2021) Becoming a Master Manager:  A Competing Values Approach, 7^th Edn, New York: Wiley