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ICEBREAKER ACTIVITIES CREATE INTERACTIVE
DISCUSSIONS
The following
"icebreaker activities" come courtesy of
Herkimer County Community College Psychology
Professor Bill Pelz, who uses these inside a
number of State University of New York Learning
Network online courses that he conducts. (This
topic was briefly commented on during the
Sloan-C workshop.)
Pelz says that
the function of icebreaker activities is to
orient students to the course management system
interface, to build confidence with non-graded,
non-threatening and fun activities, and to start
establishing a sense of community among the
course participants. His strategy revolves
around creating an interactive discussion area
where each student leads and facilitates his/her
own discussion thread and participates in
several others.
Icebreaker
discussions last for 1-2 weeks. In some systems,
such as the SUNY Learning Network, courses can
be accessed up to a week in advance of the first
day of class. This is an ideal period for an
icebreaker discussion, says Pelz.
Some examples of icebreaker activity
questions that can be used in any class to get
the online discussions flowing include:
"Why are you taking this course online?"
"What do you hope to learn in this course?"
Some examples from course-specific topics
include:
Freshman Seminar:
"Why is college important to you?"
Introductory Psychology:
"What is your learning style, and how does it
influence you?" (This is in conjunction with an
earlier icebreaker activity in which students
complete a website survey which identifies their
learning style.)
Developmental Psychology:
"Do you agree or disagree with the following
statement - and why? Spare the rod and spoil the
child."
Social Psychology:
"Which of the following statements do you
most agree with - and why? A. Birds of a feather
flock together. B. Opposites attract."
Abnormal Psychology:
"Do you know anyone you think is "abnormal?"
Tell us about that person (no names, please!)
and why you think he/she is abnormal."
Statistics for the Social Sciences:
"In what ways is the study of statistics
important to you?"
Experimental Psychology:
"What is the purpose of research?" |
