Sandra Ehrlich receives Team-Based Learning Collaborative Trainer-Consultant accreditation

CBPP Associate Professor Sandra G. Ehrlich, Ph.D., is the first in Alaska to receive the TBLC Trainer-Consultant designation from the Team-Based Learning Collaborative.

One of a team of 45 international TBLC Trainer-Consultants, Dr. Ehrlich is the first accredited team-based learning expert in Alaska.

Ehrlich joined the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence (CAFE)'s Team-Based Learning Faculty Learning Community in 2014 after attending a two-day TBL Institute facilitated by Dr. Jim Sibley at UAA.

"A reflective practitioner, one of my overarching goals is to continually challenge our students by adopting high-impact practices into the classroom to enhance success. At the end of the first day of this two-day workshop, I was 'sold' on the TBL concept to engage our business students in the critical-thinking skills vital to effective problem-solving and decision-making," said Ehrlich.

Team-Based Learning is an evidence-based collaborative learning teaching strategy designed around units of instruction, or "modules," taught in a three-step cycle: preparation, in-class readiness assurance testing and application-focused exercise.

"CBPP Dean Rashmi Prasad and I collectively determined my next step toward TBL competency was to become a TBL Trainer-Consultant to serve as a resource for CBPP and UAA faculty members," she said.

"I presented my TBL 'journey' to the UAA TBL Faculty Learning Community in 2014. I presented at the March 2015 TBLC conference to strengthen and augment my professional development in the innovative Team-Based Learning pedagogy and to take the initial required step to become a TBL Trainer-Consultant," said Ehrlich. In November 2015, she facilitated a half-day "Introduction to TBL" Workshop for CAFE.

The Team-Based Learning Collaborative conducts an accreditation program for trainers and mentors in team-based learning. Mentees engage in a rigorous two-year development program and are assessed on the basis of their portfolio, which demonstrates their capabilities in developing and facilitating the delivery of TBL courses and in mentoring and supporting others in implementing TBL in six core competencies.

"My informal TBL mentor was CAFE Interim Director Shawnalee Whitney. CAFE has co-sponsored two TBL Institutes in recent years and supports faculty to transform instruction into active learning to promote the development of professional competencies in interpersonal skills, teamwork and peer feedback," she said.

"Without reservation, the difference in the classroom for our business students and for me has been transformative," said Ehrlich.

Dr. Sandra G. Ehrlich is an associate professor of management & marketing in the College of Business & Public Policy. She teaches business communication.

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