Effect of an individual readiness assurance test on a team readiness assurance test in the team-based learning of physiology.

We examined whether requiring an individual readiness assurance test (iRAT) before a team readiness assurance test (tRAT) would benefit students in becoming better problem solvers in physiology. It was tested in the form of tRAT scores, the time required to complete the tRAT assignment, and individual performance on the unit examinations. Students in one section were given the iRAT at the beginning of the team-based learning session. The same set of questions was given to students as their tRAT immediately after their iRAT. Students in the second section were not given the iRAT before the tRAT. This pattern was reversed for the next scheduled team-based learning activity between the two sections. We found that the section having both the iRAT and tRAT scored higher on the tRAT and completed their assignments in less time than the section with the tRAT alone. This suggests that the tRAT combined with the iRAT is an effective team-based approach to the teaching of physiology compared with the tRAT alone.