Team-Based Learning in Law
Feel free to use and modify the documents on this page.
If you wish to contribute your own Team-Based Learning materials to this page, please send them to Margaret.mccabe@ law.unh.edu.
Items designated as PDF require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Team-based Learning is a learner-centered teaching strategy designed to fully engage students in mastering course knowledge, skills, and values. While Team-Based Learning has been used for over 30 years in 23 countries in a wide range of fields, including business and medicine, very few law professors have been exposed to or adopted Team-Based Learning. The fundamental principle of Team-Based Learning is that together the team achieves more. A course is divided into learning units, and then each unit follows a pattern of students
- acquiring basic knowledge,
- being assessed and receiving immediate feedback about their mastery of basic knowledge, and
- applying that knowledge with their team to significant and challenging problems for the remainder of the unit.
This page contains resources that are helpful to managing a Team-Based Learning classroom, and provides samples for those who are transitioning from a traditional course to a Team-Based format. We highly recommend that those teachers who are transitioning to Team-Based Learning use these documents with the aid of a Team-Based Learning text, such as Team-Based Learning edited by Michaelsen, Knight, and Fink (2002) [see ABC-CLIO website OR Amazon.com] or an article, such as "Team-Based Learning in Law" by Sophie Sparrow and Margaret McCabe.
Forming and Managing Teams
- Sample Team Formation Survey
Word Version (27 KB) | PDF Version ( KB) - Sample Team Contribution Guidelines
Word Version (29 KB) | PDF Version (74 KB) - Sample Firm Sign In Sheets
Word Version (53 KB) | PDF Version (21 KB) - Formative Feedback Form
Word Version (32 KB) | PDF Version (30 KB) - Final Team Point Assessment
Word Version (72 KB) | PDF Version (30 KB)
Readiness Assurance and Application Course Materials
- Sample TBL Syllabus Language
Word Version (26 KB) | PDF Version (36 KB) - Sample Study Guide Questions (Admin Pro)
Word Version (26 KB) | PDF Version (35 KB) - Sample RAQ Instruction Coversheet
Word Version (35 KB) | PDF Version (20 KB) - Sample Readiness Assurance Answer Sheets
Word Version (27 KB) | PDF Version (13 KB) - RAQ Answer Aggregator Sample
Word Version (96 KB) | PDF Version (20 KB) - Readiness Assurance Appeals Form Sample
Word Version (45 KB) | PDF Version (30 KB) - Sample Application (Admin Pro)
Word Version (25 KB) | PDF Version (57 KB)
Helpful Links and Resources
- Team-Based Learning (TBL) Collaborative
- TBL Overview Video (Michael Sweet, University of Texas - Austin)
- Team Dynamics videos (Sophie Sparrow and Margaret Sova McCabe, University of New Hampshire School of Law)
In these two videos law students simulate typical problems in a TBL classroom, with students acting as a "dominator" and a "social loafer."
Dominator (click below or view on YouTube)
Social Loafer (click below or view on YouTube)


