Team-based learning: an ethnicity-focused study on the perceptions of teamwork abilities of engineering students

A study into the influence of the team-based learning (TBL) model upon the perception of White, Asian and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students about their peers' teamwork abilities is addressed herein. A large cohort of final-year engineering students grouped into 24 diverse teams assessed their team's peers after completing a 10-credit TBL module by means of a peer-assessment survey instrument that spanned the areas of individual performance, adjustment and support, and decision-making. No significant differences were found in perceived student adjustment and support across the different ethnicity groups. Nevertheless, despite TBL having been reported to promote innovative outcomes stemming from the social diversity characterising the teams, our findings suggest that the implementation of TBL per se may not be enough to enhance the significantly poorer perceived performance and decision-making skills of BME students when they work in teams.