Icebreakers and Active Learning Strategies

Originally published in the Learning and Teaching Newsletter (internal publication) at Saskatchewan Polytechnic

Winter semester seems far away, especially since we haven't seen much of winter weather yet. But perhaps you are starting to plan. And you are thinking about adopting some new techniques. Well, here is a list of icebreakers and active learning strategies that you may wish to add to your repertoire. I recently attended a workshop and I thought I would share some of the suggested activities that we learned about. Recommended reading: Nimble: A Coaching Guide for Responsive Facilitation by Rebecca Sutherns.

Idea #1: Icebreaker
Instructions: Ask a prompting questions, such as: what do you wish you could do more of? Everyone answers in the chat. Then you ask for one participant to ask a question (something that they are curious about) to another participant. 
Example: Reading. Participant #1 asks participant #2 “what is the best book that you read this year?”

Tip: For introductions ask yourself, how much do they need to know each other. If they already know each other, is there an opportunity to dig deeper. If they don’t but also don’t need to, a brief introduction will suffice.

Idea #2: Icebreaker or active learning strategy for Zoom
Instructions: Turn cameras on/off based on a response to a question.
Example: Everyone leave their cameras on if you have a dog.
Benefit: You may find that all participants leave their cameras on following the activity. Be sure to create a safe space online where kids, pets, and mess are all welcomed. 

Idea #3: Active learning strategy
Instructions: Go into the video settings in Zoom and have participants "hide non-video participants:. This is a great way to highlight specific speakers who have been assigned a task, such as a presentation, debate, or are representing their group in a debrief following a breakout room. 

Idea #4: Active learning strategy
Instructions: Go around the room creating a story or narrative. The catch - each participant contributes a sentence but the next participant must use the last word of the previous sentence or the last letter in their contribution. 
Example: Participant #1 states “Ask prompting questions”, and participant #2 follows up with “questions are a good way to brainstorm ideas”. Participant #3 starts off with “ideas….”.
Benefit: This is a great listening exercise. Also, an excellent way to break up content, review key concepts, or energize the group. 

Idea #5: Wellness
Instructions: Run a timer on the screen for breaks. Play music. Build in self care for breaks – make time for fresh air, snacks, and hydration. Encourage participants to not go straight from one device to another.

Idea #6: Icebreaker or active learning strategy
Instructions: Zoom, ask participants to find an item in their space. This activity could be used for a scavenger hunt, sharing circle, or to incorporate a sensory experience.

Idea #7: Incorporate UDL
Instructions: In Zoom – switch it up. Allow for times of audio only. Switch from content delivery to tasks (personal or group). Turn off self view if it is too distracting. Give options – you can work in a breakout room, or you can work alone. Label breakout rooms with topics, so that participants can choose what they are interested in. Create safe spaces by allowing for the cameras to be on/off.

Asynchronous Learning, Lectures and PowerPoint

Advantages and Disadvantages of Asynchronous Learning

The main advantage of asynchronous learning is that the learner can participate in their studies at a time that is convenient for them.  My graduate degree was 100% online, I worked, had young children and did my homework in the evening after everyone was in bed, so I believe that this is a true advantage of this form of learning.  According to Hughes (2014), learners have the ability to learn at their own pace and can review the classroom materials as often as necessary in an asynchronous environment.  While I can attest to the ability to review materials at my leisure, the pace of the class is dictated by the assignments that are due and the overall course content.  Although you can leave things to the last possible minute, the learner cannot really control the overall pace of the class.  That is probably a good thing, as many of us are not self-directed enough to complete tasks that have no assigned due date.  Some disadvantages of asynchronous learning include detachment from your classmates and potential feelings of isolation.  I think humans are social creatures and enjoy the opportunities to discuss topics and learn from their colleagues.  Without an active discussion board, those opportunities would not exist.  Another disadvantage that I would note is that the class time is not limited to a typical class length.  My professors at graduate school would often assign as much content as they wanted within the week.  Responding to discussion boards took hours of my time, much longer than a 3-hour lecture.  And I was forced to contribute (good and bad thing).  In a face-to-face (f2f) lecture, if I didn’t feel like contributing, I could avoid making eye contact.

Is 'Lecture' a Bad Word?

The term lecture has become a catchall phrase that can mean anything from the traditional ‘sage on the stage’ all the way to a modern view encompassing the ‘guide on the side’ methodology of instruction.  Although the term tends to have a negative connotation, I think of it as the concept of the standard class time allotment.  I believe that online classes are more likely to fall prey to ‘traditional lecture format’ than any class that I have attended f2f in recent years.  In my experience, f2f classes, more often than not, contain a participatory element.  There are group activities, discussions, hands-on experiences and so much more.  I will agree with Bates (2015) that the more traditional format of a lecture where the expert talks and the participants listen is likely dying out.  But teachers and learners who engage in critical thinking and active learning are the future.  Teachers help students understand materials.  They synthesize huge amounts of knowledge into manageable chunks.  Learning builds on a solid foundation and instruction is scaffolded.  

My library instruction sessions are all offered in a f2f learning environment.  In my opinion, my classes are most successful when I have the opportunity to include plenty of active learning techniques, such as: demos, group and solo reflective exercises, quizzes, polling, etc. Perhaps because these are the classes that I enjoy teaching the most, these are the classes where I feel the students are most engaged in my instruction.

Is PowerPoint Evil?

In my Learning Technologies class we were asked to watch a TEDtalk and then comment on the topic covered.  The Phillips TEDtalk is highly entertaining and educational.  He discusses our use of PowerPoint software and how it is done well and not so well.  He states that PPTs can help to illustrate a point, prompt the presenter, provides an overview of the materials covered, notes key points and generally complements the presenter and the information that is being presented. I appreciated the comment made at the end of his talk, when he said that your PPT should not distract from you, because ultimately you are the presentation!  The problem is that most people don’t create successful PPTs.  They load the slides with content, the text is hard to read (size, colour, amount), there is little contrast on the slides and the information is quickly forgotten.  Also in the TEDtalk, I liked how he suggested that the presenter should have the greatest contrast in order to draw the audience’s attention to them.  

Bates, A. W. (2015).  Teaching in a digital age [Open Textbook].  Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/

Hughes, A. (2014). Comparing asynchronous and synchronous learning [Webpage].  Retrieved from  https://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/1577/comparing-asynchronous-and-synchronous-learning

Phillips, D.J.P. (2014). How to avoid death by PowerPoint [Video file].  Retrieved from https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwpi1Lm6dFo

Medium Rare

Beef Up Your Backchat
This session looked at using Audience Response Systems to engage your audience while providing the instructor with the formative assessment piece.  The presenter started with a poll using www.govote.at that could be accessed through your Smartphone or tablet.  While some of us were doing that, she asked the rest of the audience for verbal feedback on her question.  I thought she handled this transition very nicely as she was able to continue the conversation appropriately for those who chose to participate online and those who didn't.

Definitions:
ARS - are clickers without the hardware, so text or Twitter and can be used on desktop computers or mobile devices
Backchat - refers to the side conversations or discussions that happen in a classroom
Formative - immediate and ongoing feedback

Free tools:
Poll Everywhere, limit of 40 users
Mentimeter, no limit of users, but can only provide multiple choice questions
Socrative, limit of 50 users
And here is a tool that are not free:
Top Hat, free for professors, students pay - but cheaper than a clicker

Suggestions:

• use what the professor is using wherever possible; students know how it works and you don't have to waste time providing instructions
• question design should be based on specific learning goals
• use ARS at 20 minute intervals
• hide answers until ready to reveal
• test the system
• address 'code of conduct' with students for open-ended responses

Challenges:

• technology and access
• anonymous feedback vs. social media
• consider having a print alternative for students who do not wish to participate publically

Have prizes, will instruct

Every class is different.  You cannot predict how much the class will participate.  Some classes shout out the answers and students willingly put up their hands.  Other classes sit and stare at you and refuse to spit out an answer, any answer at all, ever. 

My advice, have prizes constantly at the ready.  If you encounter a class where the students are refusing to participate, then bring out those prizes.  Perhaps some prizes will entice them to be more engaged.

If you lack prizes, but rely on participation in your instruction, then you are going to have to learn to patiently wait for responses.  I find this part pure torture! 

P.S. if any students read this post... don't be scared of the friendly librarian.  She is not trying to trick you.  You will most likely get the answer right and even if you are wrong, I highly doubt that she will do anything to embarrass you. 

Do Less, Accomplish More!

Today I had the opportunity to provide an information literacy session for participants in a summer school of sorts hosted by the College of Engineering.  As I was typing up my lecture notes, it occurred to me that I had a total of five activities and essentially my whole 60 minute segment one active learning method after another, yet, I probably accomplished more in that hour than I normally do in an one-shot instructional session. 

Here is a list of my activities:

• Be My Google – class brainstorming activity [activity courtesy of Amy Fyn of Bowling Green University]
• Question: What is human powered transportation? If I ask that question and you are Google, what types of results will I retrieve
• Begin to evaluate results, then compare results with Google and Google Scholar
• Look Up - class brainstorming activity [again courtesy of Amy Fyn who refers to this activity as Thumball]
• I randomly selected participants instead of throwing a ball around the room
• Question: Why don't people commute by human powered transportation methods?
• Discover - small group brainstorming activity
• Based on your project and group solution; come up with a list of keywords, sources of information, dates, topics and potential authors
• Pick a spokesperson from their group and share with the class the results from this activity.
• Further the activity by using a discovery system or database
• Keyword Challenge
• http://21cif.com/rkitp/challenge/Keyword_Challenge/KeywordChallenge.swf  
• In class, we did the Earthquake challenge together

Hello, my name is....

Last week I taught 7 RCM 300 information literacy classes.  In the last session, a colleague of mine performed a peer evaluation of my instruction. 

One of the techniques that I use continuously in my courses is group work, of which there was no shortage in this particular class. 

Immediately following the class, my colleague offered me a brilliant suggestion stating that she uses  similar active learning techniques in her instruction.  She recommended that I start each class, that has a group work component in the instruction, with a brief meet-n-greet ice breaker.  Having students briefly introduce themselves to the people sitting next to them and offer one tidbit of previously unknown information benefits the class discussion in two ways: first, it avoids awkwardness at being forced to answer questions in a group situation and second, it sets up the expectation that students will be expected to contribute throughout the class.

I love this idea!  This ice breaker will be an excellent addition this activity will make to future instructional sessions.

The Amazing Library Race

This is a perfect activity for a library orientation when you have longer than an hour with a group of students.  It is also a good activity to review key concepts.

Materials required:

• Route markers
• Clues
• Students will require a pen

To review key locations in the library and give students an opportunity to learn more about each location in a smaller group setting:

1. This activity occurred after a library tour was given
2. We had five key questions that we wanted students to find the answers for.
• What is the title of the book at this call number? (understanding of how the library is organized and how to find a book based on a call number or a catalogue search)
• Reference Desk: Discover how to find a book in the library catalogue (acknowledge that there are people who are willing to help you find materials - students were also given a handout with more information about our catalogue)
• Library Web site: Look up who the liaison librarian is for kinesiology.  Also find the library hours for the Natural Science Library on Sundays (demonstrates that they understand how to retrieve library information from our web site)
• Circulation Desk: Ask what the loan period is for undergraduate students (where the circulation desk is and that students can ask questions here as well)
• University Learning Centre: What services does the ULC provide (acknowledges that the University Library is made up of many departments all with the objective to assist students with their research or academic needs)
3. We staggered the route so that the students would not all be travelling to the same places at the same time.  In other words, each clue that was given to the groups started them at a different place.
4. Students were provided with their next clue once they had successfully completed the activity at each checkpoint. 
5. First group back with five correct answers was given a small prize.

I felt that this activity was extremely successful.  The students were running around the library in search of their next answer.  There was a sense of competition but also I think it was fun!  I would definitely do this activity again if I had an appropriate class to implement it in.

The audience mixes things up

Today I had the opportunity to collaborate with my esteemed colleague on a library orientation for students from Centennial Collegiate who are participating in the Science Academy program.  The 16 students will spend two mornings with librarians from the University of Saskatchewan, this week.  This post will summarize the activities of the first morning.

Our agenda for our allotted time was spent discussing the concepts of academic libraries and librarianship; primary vs. secondary sources; scholarly vs. popular publications and finally a brief discussion of how the library is organized.  Students were then taken on a tour of the facility and returned to us for the wrap up exercise. 

We made use of several active learning techniques with varying degrees of success.  First, I learned a valuable lesson about high school students.  They are incredibly reluctant to share their thoughts in a group setting.  I had planned on asking for their feedback on how an academic library differed from their library and what they thought librarians did.  I waited the seven seconds to solicit a response and still nothing.  I did have one person give me an answer finally and her answer was awesome (I even learned something from it)!  So at least that is something.  Pair shares on the other hand were very successful.  The students were very happy to converse with their own peer group.  We asked them to share challenges with the research process and how they overcame those obstacles.  We identified the four main steps in the research process and asked them to work on each step for at least 2 minutes.  The students were very engaged with this activities and the quality of their responses was exceptional.  At the end of the pair-shares, I once again ventured into another group share activity.  The students were much more willing to share the thoughts of their group with the larger class.

Our best activity was the brain child of my colleague.  I will include details of that activity in a separate post.

What is a database? What is a scholarly publication?

This week I will have the opportunity to teach all sections of the RCM 300 class.  They have asked me to discuss what a database is as well as define scholarly publications.  So here is what I am thinking....

Databases and Scholarly Publications Activity:
Materials required:

• Scholarly journals, trade publications and popular magazines (one per student, alternating source type throughout the class)
• Coloured cards taped on the front of each source type for easier identification in the later activity.

To demonstrate what a database is:

1. Ask for the student(s) with a specific title to hold up their journal.  This is an example of a single title that could be found through the library catalogue
2. Ask all students to hold up their titles.  This is an example of what a database is.  This is an opportunity to discuss how databases are organized by indexed fields to simplify discovery of resources.  This is also an excellent opportunity to discuss the differences between Google and a database.  This activity is the perfect segue into the next activity.

To define source types:

1. Ask students to partner with the two individuals sitting directly beside them.  Each person should have a different type of publication.
2. Take 5 minutes to identify the differences between the source types.
3. Share feedback with the larger group.
4. Summarize the two activities by discussing different types of databases (general reference, bibliographic, specialized content)

Note: this second activity is based on an activity that I participated in at the Fall Orientation for New Faculty.  In the original activity participants were asked to compare two different syllabi's in groups. 

"slow down, you move to fast..."

I learned a valuable lesson today: slow down!  When expecting students to follow along with a  hands-on activity make sure to give clear instructions, such as, what URL they should start with and then how to proceed from there.  And most importantly - wait for them to get there!

Also never underestimate the benefit of having a co-pilot at any session with a hands-on component.  It was very useful to me to have my colleague co-present our session on RefWorks today.  Not only were we given the opportunity to brainstorm the topic in advance, but also we had the chance to learn from one another in action.  We could also circulate the room and discover which students were on the right page and which students needed a bit of further assistance!

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. 

Inserting countdowns into a PowerPoint presentation

For a session that I will present this afternoon, I wanted to add a pair-share activity, but I need to limit the time of the activity as I only have 15-20 minutes in total to present.

I thought, there must be a clever way to add a countdown timer to a slide... please YouTube, show me the way! 

Here is the video that I found and the corresponding PowerPoint presentation with various time gadgets embedded within the slides.  All you need to do is copy and paste the time limit that you want and voila!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDeRcfhsR2U&noredirect=1 
http://a6training.co.uk/resources_powerpoint.php

Thank you YouTube, you made it incredibly easy to add the counter to my slides!

Bingo dabbers anyone?

In the conscious and consistent effort to incorporate active learning into classroom activities, I decided to try bingo in my BLE 495 class.  I knew the class size would be fairly small and that my portion of the instruction would merely be demonstration as students would not have access to computer workstations. 

I ran a search for bingo templates in Google and found one in Microsoft Office online templates.  The template was called buzzword bingo and came complete with many inspiring business type terms like collaboration and team work. 

I created 10 unique sheets using words that I knew I would use sometime in my presentation; either because I say them all the time like research, concepts, topics, effective and efficient OR because they were part of my presentation, like the search examples that I was planning on using.  For prizes, I went to the bookstore and purchased $20 worth of school supplies (pens, highlighters, binder clips, etc.).  I planned on having only one winner from this session, but wanted the winner to be able to select their prize from the grab bag.

On the back of each bingo sheet, I added a 1-minute memo that contained two short questions.  First, list one thing that you learned today that will be useful to your future work as an engineer and second, list one thing that you would like to learn more about.

The response to the bingo cards was immediate and positive.  I had laid them out on the tables ahead of time and most students remarked as they entered the room.  I begun my time, by instructing students that it was a blackout bingo game and that a prize would be given to the winning student.

I thought for sure that I would state all the terms before the end of the session, but alas, no student completed the entire sheet.  I immediately modified the rules, and gave it to the student who had completed the majority of the sheet.  The professor (who was also participating) had less left, but I decided he was not eligible to win a prize. 

Lesson learned:

• one line would be plenty for the first winner, but offer a secondary prize for a blackout towards the end of class if there is one. 
• students were paying attention because most of them missed things that I surely had said at some point.
• the 1-minute memo was a fabulous way to gather feedback about the session.  I followed up with a list of answers to the questions that they had posed.

Student Assessment Ideas

Potential Assessment Tools:

• Stop, Start, Continue: to determine what components should be kept within the instructions, as well as identifying aspects that were not as successful
• 2 minute memo: to determine if the learning objectives have been met
• Survey with a mixture of multiple choice and open ended questions: to gather feedback on instruction, instructor and classroom activities
• Immediate feedback instrument: can be purchased and used in class.  The choices are covered with a removable material.  You get 3 points for picking the right answer with the first scratch, 2 points for the second try, 1 point for the third try and no points for the last square remaining.  You can use this instrument as a competition within the class - students working in teams try to get the most points in the shortest amount of time.  In the faculty orientation that I attended, one of the instructors used this instrument.  It was a lot of fun, even though my team lost!

Copyright restrictions require creativitiy

On August 27th, I attended a new faculty orientation at the University of Saskatchewan.  One of the speakers in the afternoon shared an active learning technique that I knew would be perfect for integration into a library instruction session.  The speaker gave one side of the classroom a syllabus created for an undergraduate class while the other side of the classroom was given a syllabus for a graduate class.  Once you had the syllabus in hand, students were instructed to pair up with someone on the opposite side of the classroom and discuss the layout, the content, etc. 

ah ha!  THE perfect activity for comparing and contrasting scholarly journals with popular magazine... Except....

With copyright restrictions, instructors are not allowed to distributed multiple copies of a journal article within a classroom without prior approval from the copyright holder; even if you have the students return the copies at the end of the class.  I know this because I was on the copyright/usage rights communication team.  So what can I do?

Well, I ended up embedding the links to two articles into a LibGuide for the course.  I will instruct students to click on the links and retrieve the article that way - thus compiling with copyright.

If there were no computers in the classroom... now that would be an exercise in creativity!

Get active - notes from a conference presentation

My second day at the WILU conference began with an extraordinary presentation by Amy Fyn entitled "Let's Get Active! Using Active Learning Techniques in a One-Shot Library Instruction Session". Immediately I knew that I would love this session as a beach ball went flying by my head. Part of me did not want to catch the ball because I was afraid that I might get the answer wrong in front of my library colleagues, but the other side of me was delighted and definitely engaged with Amy's instructional techniques!

Amy infused methodology with her message into a fun and thought provoking session. I was so pleased that she offered actual tips and examples that could be utilized within a classroom setting.

She stated that generally there is a perception of learning and where / how it is supposed to happen. But if you change the activity or the venue, your audience will be forced to sit up and pay attention. It will stand out. She gave the example of field trips in grade school, which are typically more memorable than the day to day activities of a classroom. She proved her point as one audience member recounted in detail her experiences on a field trip some twenty years ago, including what she wore and ate that day and who she was sitting with!

Amy echoed Fu Zhuo's sentiments on making connection through instruction. If you start by estabilishing what the students already know, you can build upon this knowledge throughout your session. This technique is called scaffolding and can be very benefical when the instructor is given a limited opportunity to present their materials.

Throughout her session she demonstrated many active learning techniques including the beach ball marked with library questions and a thumball with ice breakers, both of which succeed in forcing the participant to look up (or risk getting hit) instead of down at their materials. She utilized a slow moving telephone where participants passed along a message. The slow moving telephone could be used to demonstrate the concept of primary / secondary sources; paraphrasing and plagarism. Learners in this session participated in a think-group-share. The individuals were broken into groups based on which playing card suit they had in front of them. My ultimate favourite learning technique that she used was "Be My Google" where the room is becomes the Internet and is involved in a discussion on relevancy.

Her blog is http://activelibrarians.wordpress.com; join her conversation.