Contributor
Gaye Manwaring, University of Dundee, g.manwaring@dundee.ac.uk
Ingredients
Blank paper or prepared sheets
Method
Put them into groups of about 5. Ask each person to come up with a contentious or controversial statement relevant to the theme of the workshop and write it at the top of the paper. Then pass the papers round clockwise and each person adds their view:
++ strongly agree; + agree; 0 neutral; - disagree, - - strongly disagree. They can add a comment if they wish. When someone gets their own statement back they can see the range of opinions in the group and each item is discussed in turn. Then in plenary ask each group to present one of the topics, especially if opinions have changed during discussion.
Instead you could provide the statements to stimulate discussion. I did this in a workshop on Assessment and Feedback with items like this
- Marking should be anonymous.
- If students resubmit they can only receive a passing grade, even if the work is excellent.
- You should not make allowances for students whose first language is not English.
Special Notes
Allowing the participants to write the statements is more authentic and empowering.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
