OZARKA COLLEGE

Eating an Elephant

One Bite at a Time

Games are a wonderful way to help students learn without knowing they are learning. It can be fun, competitive, and provide long lasting memories.

The second method can also be turned into a game if you wanted to. I like this method because it offers a fast paced approach to team work. It has the ability to slow down and add instructor feedback or peer reviews when needed. This is very versatile.

Games - Many instructors denigrate the idea that one would literally play games in a college setting, but occasionally there is no better instructional tool. In particular, there are some concepts or theories which are more easily illustrated than discussed and, in these cases, a well-conceived game may convey the idea more readily. For example, when students are introduced to the concepts of "laws of nature" and "the scientific method", it is hard to convey through lectures the nature of scientific work and the fallibility of inductive hypotheses. Instead, students play a couple rounds of the Induction Game, in which playing cards are turned up and either added to a running series or discarded according to the dealer's pre-conceived "law of nature". Students are asked to "discover" the natural law, by formulating and testing hypotheses as the game proceeds. In addition, games are very useful as a review tool. Many instructors have found a game of Jeopardy to be energizing and a good way to review before a test.

Visible Quiz - Students in groups discuss the appropriate response to quiz questions, ones typically displayed on an overhead projector. The answers can be multiple choice (A, B, C, or D) or True (T) and False (F). Each team has a set of large cards with the four letters and the T and F, all sets composed with letters in the same colors (All A's would be red, for example, and all T's, yellow). At a given signal, one person from each team displays the team's choice. The instructor can quickly survey the room to determine how well students understood the question. She then gives the correct answer, going into a mini-lecture if a minority of students gave inappropriate responses. She can also call on groups to explain the rationale for their selection, sometimes uncovering genuine misconceptions and sometimes uncovering poorly constructed, ambiguous wording in the questions. This technique gives both students and teachers immediate feedback on learning. Peer coaching also takes place when the teams discuss each question.

If you have time and don't want to wait for the next bite, you can find the rest of the toolbox in myOzarka under the "Ozarka Resources" tab.

Or you can follow this link:

https://www.ozarka.edu/files/resources/teachingtoolbox.doc

I will be posting each section in the Student Success Center Blog. So if you are interested in checking out "back bites," you can find them there.

Or you can follow this link:
https://www.ozarka.edu/blogs/success/index.cfm/Weekly-Postings-for-Faculty-

Hope you enjoyed it.