Team Laboratory Chief (TLC): A New Endeavor in Teaching Histology

The Team Laboratory Chief (TLC) concept was developed for the Histology course to foster team‐based learning and institute peer‐teaching and peer‐grading. Each student led three laboratory sessions as the TLC to a six‐member team. TLC presentations were required to last one hour, include digital microscope slides in the Virtual Histology program (developed by P.A.S.), incorporate Laboratory Guide and textbook content, ask questions to facilitate discussion, and answer questions from the team. Presentation format was flexible, allowing creativity and incorporation of additional resources. Faculty also answered questions and corrected any noted errors. Two laboratory sessions served as controls in which students worked independently. Team members evaluated the TLC on presentation quality and leadership. Most TLCs scored 90–100%, indicating high satisfaction with TLC presentations, however, students were only mildly positive that being taught by a TLC increased their knowledge compared with learning the material independently during control labs (24% neutral, 53% agreed or strongly agreed). Students agreed or strongly agreed that the TLC program increased their knowledge of the topic they presented (90%), fostered teamwork (73%), and helped them prepare professionally for a leadership role (64%). The TLC program contributed to a dramatic 43% increase from 2009 in satisfaction that lab sessions improved comprehension.