Journal of College Teaching & Learning – November 2011 Volume 8, Number 11 © 2011 The Clute Institute 39 Team-Based Learning: Perceptions Of Instructors And Students In Thai Universities Thanongsak Sovajassatakul, King Mongkut‟s University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand Kalayanee Jitgarun, King Mongkut‟s University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand Raveewan Shinatrakool, King Mongkut‟s University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand ABSTRACT The purpose of the study reported on in this paper was to identify and compare instructors’ and students’ perceptions of Team-Based Learning (TBL). Participants were 270 instructors and 288 fourth year students from the faculties of Industrial Education at six universities in Bangkok. The data were analyzed using factor analysis and structural equation modeling with LISREL TM . Results indicated that both instructors and students agreed on the importance of two factors in TBL: Active Learning and Authentic Assessment. Students were significantly more likely to favor The Value of Team. Instructors were significantly more likely to value the importance of Instructional Design for TBL. Keywords: Team-Based Learning; Thailand; University; Instructors; Perceptions; Students INTRODUCTION he construct of team-based learning (TBL) was originally coined, during the 1970s, by Larry Michaelsen at the University of Oklahoma (Michaelsen, Knight & Fink, 2004). Michaelsen (2004) identified the utility of integrating group assignments in his smaller classes and therefore decided to apply the same strategy to his larger classes. Team-based learning (TBL) transforms how classroom time is used and the roles that students and teachers play in the learning process (McInerney & Fink, 2003). It also helps students change their attitude towards responsibilities, develop human relationships from working as a team, exchange ideas, and apply knowledge to real-life situations and/or to new problems (Paulson & Faust, 2000). As McInerney and Fink (2003) observed from their experiences with TBL, students become more motivated, develop understanding of content, and learn complex problem-solving. Most importantly, as the authors observed, TBL “promotes a learning- centered culture” (p. 3). In 1999, the Thai government proclaimed the National Education Act (Office of Education Council, 2001), which emphasizes learner-centeredness as being at the heart of educational reform. A learner-centered approach is an approach that may yield productive teaching and learning (Office of the National Education Commission, 2002). The Act also proposes for the second decade of education reform (2009-2018) that the new generation of Higher Education (HE) students should acquire the capacity to work as a team. However, the traditional approach to learning in Thai universities is characterized by a lack of student participation in learning, few opportunities for interpersonal relationships, and little requirement for students to seek knowledge by themselves (Polsaram, 2001). In Thailand, there has been a tradition of working individually and of following the leader (Jamornmarn, 1996). This tradition has meant that for Thai students, their ability to use team work and solve problems is very weak (Jongrungreang & Vinijkul, 2001; Thonglert, 2007). Implementing TBL in universities, therefore, presents challenges particularly given that little is known about the use of this approach in Thailand. In addition, as Thompson et al. (2007) observed, little work has been done to identify the factors related to the implementation of TBL in general. T