Are you brave enough?

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to offer library instruction on study and research skills as well as time management to two sections of GE 101.  The first section had 250 students, the second had 235.  Like I mentioned in my previous post, I was keen to engage these students through the addition of an activity, but what activity do you dare offer in a class this large???

Ultimately I settled upon a pair-share activity based on a study skills survey.  I posted questions based on time management, listening and reading, concentration and writing exams to name but a few.  Students were asked to comment to their partner if they answered yes to any of the survey questions, and discuss what strategies they implemented in order to overcome these challenges.  Once I had completed the 5 slide survey, I then asked students who were brave enough to comment to the class on anything that stood out or any useful information that they gleaned from one another.  In the first section, 2 people raised their hands; in the second section, 4 people commented.  All comments were thoughtful and very useful to the overall learning of the group.  I was very pleased with the participation rate and that the activity engaged the majority of the students in the class. 

One thing to note if noise is an issue for you - 250 students talking all at once in a lecture theatre is a bit overwhelming!  You have to have some sort of visual clue that they are meant to return to the instructor and the slides OR be an expert in classroom management techniques.  I found that my countdown embedded in my slides did the trick. 

Note 2: One thing that an instructor said to me recently was "stop learning, start listening".  That comment was definitely applicable in this situation as the students who were engaged, learned so much from one another, it was almost a shame to bring them back to the instructor led conversation.