Classroom Activities That Work

GROUP BUILDING

Purpose

The most important first activity for your first‑year experience class is becoming a group. Research on student retention clearly indicates that among the most important factors in student persistence is whether students establish a relationship with the institution or, more important, with people at the institution. In short it is crucial that they feel as if they belong. Among the most important relationships for students are those with their peers. Many students form these relationships quickly through clubs, teams, groups on their dorm floor, or other organizations, but some do not. The first‑year course is a structured way for your students to form these relationships‑indeed, for some of them it will be their first "belonging place."
The first step in establishing that sense of belonging is group building‑getting students to know one another as individuals and to become comfortable with talking and working with one another, that is, forming a solid, caring group. Creating a sense of belonging on campus can be particularly difficult for nontraditional and commuter students. Assignments that build subgroups and networks outside of the classroom can help strengthen their sense of belonging.  Group building facilitates the functioning of the rest of the course. After the students get to know and are comfortable with one another, the discussion and activities inside and outside of class work more effectively. Students are more at ease in expressing their opinions, and the interchange can become much more lively. When students are asked to work together on out‑of‑class assignments, they will work more effectively with people they are comfortable with.
Group building is not, however, without its dangers. One of the greatest perils occurs when the group‑either consciously or unconsciously decides to freeze a student out. As instructors we must be on guard and proactive at all times, and if we see someone being excluded, we must take appropriate measures. We must clarify for the entire class‑and also for ourselves‑the view that group membership does not mean we all like each other. What is important, of course, is that the members recognize themselves as a group and treat each other with respect.

Process

Many activities are available to serve as "ice breakers" to begin building the group. Three commonly used activities are Name Chain, the Ball of String, and Interview and Introduction. Do one of these on the first day of class. You may wish to do a second on the second day as well.

Name Chain. The Name Chain is a simple activity in which the students tell something about themselves. The Name Chain works best if the students are formed in a circle so that they can all see one another. The procedure, which you should explain as you begin, is simple. Each person will introduce him‑ or herself and share some personal information. He or she will then reintroduce the previous two individuals who have spoken and repeat some things about them that he or she remembers.
To begin, explain the rules of the Name Chain and then model the introduction by introducing yourself. Make your introduction reasonably long so that the students find some things with which to identify. This will help them decide what to say about themselves.
Frequently students are very reluctant to talk about themselves and may volunteer only one or two sentences. Thus you may need to prompt the first two or three students to make sure that they understand what they are to do. Occasionally you may have to intervene to help people with names and to keep the activity on track.
There are numerous variations on this activity. You can simplify it by asking that they repeat only the first name of the previous two individuals, or you can make it more difficult by asking them to repeat the first names of all the people before them. This latter variation will help everyone learn everyone else's first name quickly. When the last student has finished, the group will probably insist that you complete the circle by taking another turn. Be prepared!	If you have about twenty students in your class, this activity should take from 20 to 50 minutes, depending on the volubility of the group.

Ball of String. The Ball of String activity is a variation of the Name Chain. Follow the procedure described for the Name Chain with the entire group sitting or standing in a circle. Instead of going around the circle in order, the instructor introduces him‑ or herself to the class and then throws a ball of yarn or string to someone else in the circle, holding onto the end of the string. The person who catches the ball introduces him‑ or herself and tosses the ball to someone else, again holding onto the string. When the exercise is completed, you should have a net of string connecting everyone in the class. This is a good opportunity to talk about forming connections with people and a "network" of friends. The rest of the exercise is run the same as the Name Chain and takes about the same amount of time.

Interview and Introduction. The Interview and Introduction activity differs in that it pairs students up. Each student interviews his or her partner and prepares to introduce that student to the class. (If you have an odd number of students in the class, put three people in one group.) You can suggest the kinds of questions students should ask: Where are they from? Why did they come to this school? What do they expect to major in? Do they expect to play any sports or participate in other activities? What did they do in high school? How many brothers and sisters do they have? What is their favorite TV show? What books are they currently reading or have they recently completed? Allow students 5 to 7 minutes to interview each other. Then call on them in pairs to introduce each other to the class. This activity takes between 30 and 50 minutes.

Reflections on Group Building

Many of the activities you do in a first‑year experience class will require the students to work together in groups. As the term progresses, you will discover that they have come to know one another well. They will not all become good friends, but most will have one or two close friends from the class. You may see them together on campus or read about them in their journals; this will tell you that your group building has been successful.
Moreover, the group can take on a dynamic quality of its own. Because the students are comfortable talking openly with one another, they may become louder and seemingly more tumultuous than in other, more formal, classes. Resist the temptation to try to control their exuberance. 
	
VALUES CLARIFICATION

Purpose

Virtually all college and university mission statements assert a commitment to helping students clarify their personal values. The first‑year experience seminar can directly serve that mission. Our society is one of tremendous diversity and, even in the most homogeneous student body, students bring with them a wide variety of values and perspectives. For first‑year students the revelation that their values are not fully shared by everyone else may be eye opening or even shocking. The purpose of values clarification activities is to help students understand and be able to articulate their own personal values and to learn to tolerate the value differences of others.

Process

Use the values clarification activities provided in this chapter‑the Drawbridge exercise and the Kidney Transplant and "Who Stays?" problems‑to help students understand their personal values. Each activity takes about 40 minutes.

Drawbridge Exercise. Begin the activity by dividing the class into small groups. Ask the students to read the following story or read aloud: 

As he left for a visit to his outlying districts, the jealous baron warned his pretty wife: "Do not leave the castle while 1 am gone, or 1 will punish you severely when 1 return!"
But as the hours passed, the young baroness grew lonely, and despite her husband's warning, decided to visit her lover, who lived in the countryside nearby.
The castle was located on an island in a wide, fast‑flowing river, with a drawbridge linking the island and the land at the narrowest point in the river.
"Surely my husband will not return before dawn," she thought, and she ordered her servants to lower the drawbridge and leave it down until she returned.
After spending several pleasant hours with her lover, the baroness returned to the drawbridge, only to find it blocked by a madman wildly waving a long, cruel knife. "Do not attempt to cross this bridge, baroness, or 1 will kill you," he raved.
Fearing for her life, the baroness returned to her lover and asked him to help.
"Our relationship is only a romantic one," he said. "1 will not help. "
The baroness then sought out a boatman on the river, explained her plight to him, and asked him to take her across the river in his boat.
"1 will do it, but only if you can pay my fee of five marks. "
"But 1 have no money with me!" the baroness protested.
"That is too bad. No money, no ride," the boatman said flatly.
Her fears growing, the baroness ran crying to the home of a friend, and after again explaining the situation, she begged for enough money to pay the boatman his fee.
"If you had not disobeyed your husband, this would not have happened, " the friend said. "1 will give you no money. "
With dawn approaching, and her last resource exhausted, the baroness returned to the bridge in desperation, attempted to cross to the castle, and was slain by the madman.

Directions: In the preceding story there are six characters. They are (in alphabetical order):
	the baron	the friend
	the baroness	the lover
	the boatman 	the madman

Using the list above, rank each character according to how responsible he or she was for the baroness's death. Rank the characters from 1 to 6, with I being the most responsible and 6 being the least responsible. Now, work with the other members of a group, and decide as a group on a rank order for the six characters.

Kidney Transplant Problem

Tonight, the Laymen's Board of Review of General Hospital meets to consider applicants for kidney transplants. Each of the patients described below has been evaluated by the medical staff, and it has been determined that each patient will probably die in three to six weeks without a transplant. The best statistical estimates are that only about five donors will be available during that period. The board must establish a priority list of who will get the kidneys by rank‑ordering the nine applicants. They are:

1.	John Hallbright. Age 41. Married. Two children, a son 12 and a daughter 4. College graduate. Works as an officer in a bank. Wife also employed as an elementary school teacher.

2.	Marie Villareal. Age 39. Unmarried. College graduate; holds a Master's in physical therapy. Employed at VA hospital 14 years; is head of Physical and Occupational Therapy treatment center.

3.	Pamela Watson. Age 23. Married, no children. College graduate. Teaches social studies and is cheerleader advisor in junior high school. Husband is a high school teacher. Medical diagnosis indicates a heart condition that may cause complications in a transplant operation.

4.	Avery Smith. Age 51. Married. Three children, a daughter 19 and two sons 17 and 15. High school graduate. Owner and operator of Smith Industries, a machine shop that employs 150. City councilman for twelve years; member of library board of directors for six years.

5.	William Work. Age 11. One of seven children of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Work. Has received a kidney transplant that failed.

6.	Walker Red Cloud. Age 22. Ojibwa Indian. At least four children by two wives. Fourth‑grade education. No occupation.

7.	Nancy Adams. Age 34. Divorced. Three children, a daughter 7 and twin sons G, all in her custody. Employed as a secretary in a real estate office. Receives no child support from her ex‑husband, whose whereabouts are unknown.

8.	Mary Parenti. Age 12. IQ 87. Teachers describe her as shy, withdrawn, and inhibited. Family emigrated to New York the year she was born. Family owns restaurant where both parents work.

9.	Juan Gonzalez. Age 32. Married, eight children. Migrant worker. Wife and three oldest children also work as migrant workers.

"Who Stays?" Problem

The Dilemma

Enrollment has been cut back at this college. As a member of the board, it is your responsibility to rank the following ten students according to who deserves to remain in this college, number 1 being the most deserving. Each of these students has been enrolled for about seven weeks. Descriptions of their pre-college situations and performances, as well as the circumstances of their college career thus far, are listed.

Factors to Keep in Mind

1.		Each student's potential, abilities, or capabilities

2.		Each student's motivation to perform

3.		The degree of difficulty in conquering problems

4.		The availability of services to help overcome the problems

5.	The outcome of his or her education; how badly each wants to achieve

G.		The probability of successful completion of a college education

The Students

1.	Angela: Extremely intelligent; senior class valedictorian; has won awards in the National Science Fair for exhibits; received a full scholarship from a national company to the college of her choice; has much difficulty relating to others on a social basis; has definite plans to major in chemistry; an out‑of‑state student; is having great difficulties adjusting to dorm life; is homesick.

2.	Albert: An All‑State quarterback in high school; plans to play college football on a full scholarship; scored extremely poorly on the college admittance tests although his high school scores were average; has no major; plans to become a coach; poor classroom attendance.

3.	Jill: Ranked in the middle of her graduating class; did fair in high school math; did poorly in high school science; parents pushed her toward her declared major in biology; doing poorly in these college subjects; has good study habits; has high capabilities in English; lives at home; family problems are developing.

4.	Carolyn: A divorced mother with two children; 24 years old; has returned to college to continue her college education after dropping out six years earlier; is working and raising her family; commutes; major is a two‑year degree in secretarial sciences; receives financial aid.  
5.		Dominique: An exchange student from Venezuela; lives in a men's dorm; visiting our college for one semester; has already earned a degree in his own country; doing very well academically; involved in several campus organizations; self‑supported; here to experience our lifestyle; not working toward any particular major.

6.	Thomas: Outgoing and well‑liked among his peers; poor grades; studied little in high school and has few study skills; undecided major; his parents pay for his education; an in‑state student; lives on campus; enjoys the college party life most of all.

7.	Howard: Ranked in the top 5 percent of his graduating class; out-of‑state student; lives on campus; came from an influential family in a small town; was "Mr. Popular" in high school; is having a terrible time adjusting to college life; very homesick; grades are dropping as time passes; uninvolved in campus life; has much potential that could be used.

8.	Gina: An accounting major; dropped all but 9 hours of classes; very poor classroom attendance; extremely active in her sorority; poor grades; parents pay for everything; in‑town student; lives on campus; her parents donate a scholarship to our college.

9.	Evelyn: Is 63 years old; worked in a day‑care center for the past fifteen years; prior to that, was a housewife and mother; is working toward a degree in child psychology; receiving financial aid for returning students over 60; doing well academically.

10.	Karl: Average grades; commutes; works 20 hours a week to pay for his education; is aiming for a degree in engineering; would like to get more involved in activities on campus but does not have the time; high potential in math; a hard worker.

ONLY THE TOP FIVE STUDENTS WILL BE ALLOWED TO REMAIN IN SCHOOL!

Kidney Transplant and "Who Stays?" Problems. Begin the activity by dividing the class into small groups. Ask the students to read either the Kidney Transplant story or the "Who Stays?" story and individually rank each character according to who gets the transplant or who stays. Allow 5 to 7 minutes for this part of the exercise.
Then have students split up into groups to reach a consensus on their lists. One person for each group should be designated as recorder/ reporter. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for this part of the exercise.
Next ask each group to report its conclusions and record them in front of the class on the blackboard or a large tablet. From this point you can lead a discussion about the results, again keeping in mind that there is no right answer. Both of these exercises are about making "win‑lose" decisions. In the "Who Stays" exercise, some students will be allowed to stay and some will not; in the Kidney Transplant exercise some will receive a transplant and will probably live, and some will not receive a transplant and will probably die.
You can talk about the process of making decisions. Did the groups establish criteria in advance for making decisions? Can they specify what the criteria are? Help the students to see if there are any identifiable criteria for their choices. Again, how did they reach a consensus? Is it important in this case? Did they make assumptions that were unspecified, assumptions that were perhaps based on stereotyping or generalized entirely from their own experiences?

Reflections on Values Clarification

Although values clarification is an important part of the institution's mission, instructors must walk a fine line between clarifying values and advocating a position or foisting one on students, especially where controversial issues such as abortion or the death penalty are concerned. The goal should be to help students develop their own positions and values, not to have them adopt the values and positions of others. America is a complex and diverse society, one in which we all must learn to understand and respect the values and traditions of others.

MAKING CONNECTIONS OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

Purpose

Making students more aware of the resources and opportunities that their institution provides and broadening their intellectual and academic experiences are two of the primary objectives of first‑year experience courses. These objectives can frequently be met through organized activities that take students beyond the regular framework of the classroom.

Process

Institutional resources can frequently be experienced better than they can be described. Finding places and things, even on a small campus, often can be confusing or intimidating. You can acquaint your students with the resources of your institution in several ways. You might plan a class activity, during class time, that will literally take the students out of the classroom to explore the campus. You could, for example, arrange to take the students on a tour of offices or program areas. On a small campus you could visit the dean of admissions, the registrar, the dean of students, the academic dean, or maybe even the president. At a large university you might want to tour the student center and introduce the people and facilities that are available. An alternate approach is to set up a scavenger hunt that requires students, as teams, to visit various offices to acquire some piece of information and report back to the class.
You can also plan visits to other campus facilities. The theater is one option. A staff member can introduce your class to the theater‑stage, props, makeup room, and so on‑and provide an introduction to a play. Then you can plan to have the class attend the play. A similar approach can be used for almost any other program, such as music concerts, speakers series, and public forums.
Many first‑year seminar programs incorporate a special academic theme ‑for example, the nature of civic responsibility‑that is highlighted through a series of public programs /such as a speakers series) required of all students in the first‑year seminar. Either the instructional team or an individual instructor can plan such a program or take advantage of existing ones. Make attendance at some of these events a requirement, and discuss them in class afterward or ask students to write about them in their journals.  	

Reflections on Out‑of‑Class Activities

A student once expressed regret over not taking our first‑year experience course. "Why?" we asked. "Because they got to go to all those lecture programs," she replied. "But they were open to everyone," we pointed out. "Yes," she admitted, "but they were required to go." This exchange illustrates what we in higher education know to be true. When students have requirements, they frequently later recognize that the requirements were "good for them." In some cases a requirement may even change their lives. Some students who had never been to a play before actually became active theatergoers after being required to go.

GETTING STUDENTS INVOLVED

Purpose

Attendance at out‑of‑classroom activities is one step in getting students involved in the life of the college. Retention literature shows clearly that students who have a sense of being a part of the community or of having some "belonging place" are much more likely to persist. It is possible to help students achieve a sense of belonging by structuring requirements and activities. This requirement can be particularly important for commuter students, who are less likely to feel integrated into the campus community than are residential students. Nontraditional students and students with off‑campus jobs may have more difficulty with this requirement. But this only points up the importance of finding ways to get them involved.
Research has shown that a substantial commitment of time by students to nonacademic activities‑even 20 to 30 hours a week‑does not adversely affect their grades. These commitments do, however, increase the students' satisfaction with college life. "More involvement is strongly correlated with higher satisfaction" /Light, 1990).
Many instructors of first‑year seminars believe the easiest way to structure involvement is to require it. They require students to join an organization and attend a specified number of campus events, and they award them points for doing so. If you are averse to mandating group involvement, perhaps you could make it optional for extra credit. You can help by providing information and encouragement. You might take time in class periodically to ask one or more students which organizations they have joined and what they have been doing. Or have them write about their campus involvement for 5 minutes one day.
You should decide in advance what you are going to count as an activity of involvement and be prepared to answer a number of questions about your requirement. Do varsity sports count? Do fraternities? Is there a date by which students must have joined their organizations and attended a specified number of events?
"Making the connections outside the classroom" and "getting students involved" can be combined by requiring students to attend a number of mixed events: one male and one female athletic event; one student music event; one student government meeting; and so on.

Reflections on Getting Students Involved

Suggesting, encouraging, or requiring involvement not only aids student retention but also provides rewards for active students. Giving students credit for involvement conveys the idea that co‑curricular activities (for which we do not normally give credit/ provide an important form of learning.
Suggesting, encouraging, or requiring attendance at nonacademic events sends the same message and reinforces the idea that being an active member of a community is more than just going to class. Knowing that their classmates are attending an activity and seeing them perform‑on the stage, on the playing field, or in the concert hall‑also is a positive reinforcer to those who have joined a team or performing group.

THE MINI‑COLLEGE

Purpose

A frequently used activity in first‑year seminars is the Mini‑College. The objective of the activity is for students to create a "mini‑college" by preparing course descriptions, selecting the curriculum of the college, and scheduling and offering the courses.
The Mini‑College is designed for several purposes: to introduce students to the concept and process of the college curriculum, to give them practice in organizing and presenting, and to have them demonstrate their expertise in something.

Process

Preparation. The Mini‑College has two parts and needs to be performed over several class periods. In Part 1 students create the course descriptions and choose the curriculum. In Part 2 they present their mini‑classes. A few days in advance of the Mini‑College, the students should prepare course descriptions for 5‑ to 7‑minute "courses" they are able to teach. These descriptions should be similar to ones found in a college catalog. On the day the curriculum committee /made up of selected students in your classy meets, students should submit their course descriptions on 3 X 5 cards. The curriculum committee then meets and selects a number of courses from those cards.
A few days later, Part 2 begins. You will need to decide in advance how many "classes" to schedule. You can usually schedule as many as five or six in a 50‑minute class period. If there is a vacant classroom nearby, you might even set up two classes at once so that there is a "schedule" of classes from which students can choose. Most instructors plan on having six to eight students‑or about one‑third of the class‑make presentations. You will have to decide how you will evaluate the student "teachers."

The Curriculum Committee. On the day set for the curriculum activity, select a "curriculum committee" of about five students. (One way to do this in a class of twenty is to count off by fours and take all the number threes.) Arrange a circle of chairs in the middle of the room for the committee. Then arrange the rest of the students in a larger circle around the committee. Give the committee the stack of cards with the course descriptions on them, and ask them to select the "curriculum" for the "college." Tell them how many classes you want them to select, but otherwise give them relatively little direction. They may talk among themselves or speak to or ask questions of the rest of the class, but the students in the outer circle may not initiate questions or discussion with the committee. Give the committee about 15 minutes to do their task. Immediately afterward, process the curriculum committee activity, and allow students two or three days to prepare their classes.

Presentation of Courses. On the day appointed for the Mini‑College, the student "teachers" whose courses were selected make their presentations. The topics on which they can present a course should be drawn from the students' interests and need not be academic. Mini‑courses have been presented on such varied subjects as fly fishing, drawing the human figure, and fortune telling. They might also be more academic if students choose subjects such as the anatomy of the knee, exercises to strengthen the back, or the periodic table. Inform your students that the subjects they plan to teach must be suited to the classroom environment. That is, they should not plan to teach a unit on "rushing the net" in tennis. They must also be prepared to provide their own props and supplies.
The rest of the students in the seminar are the "students" who attend the Mini‑College. If you set up the college with two classes at once, you can have students select a schedule and change classes between periods.

Reflections on the Mini‑College

The Mini‑College enables the instructor to discuss a variety of subjects. Processing the curriculum committee activity can focus on group decision making. How did the committee members make their decisions, and how do other committees or groups make decisions? Did they establish logical criteria for their selection? Or did they pick and choose the courses arbitrarily? Did you hear comments like "I like the sound of this course" or "I don't want to teach anything"? In most cases the committee chooses the courses without asking the students in the outer circle anything. Processing can open a discussion on why they didn't solicit information from the prospective "students" or from the "instructors" of the classes. These discussions lead logically to a discussion about your college or university. How was its curriculum created? How are courses approved? Do students have any input into the decisions? Should they? Do instructors? This can also lead to a more general discussion of the curriculum, the liberal arts, and the goals of higher education.
The Mini‑College is usually great fun for the students. The "teachers" enjoy parading their expertise, and the students enjoy the classes. The "teachers" can get a brief perspective on what being on the other side of the desk is like, and the students in the classes can get a new perspective on some of their classmates.
There are many variations on this basic Mini‑College format. Some instructors skip the curriculum committee and personally select the students to give the classes; some require all the students to do a class; some require all the students to come prepared to give a class; some do the curriculum committee and the Mini‑College on the same day. Try different ideas and see which one works with your students.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

Purpose

Program evaluation can serve several purposes. Most commonly it provides the instructor, the instructional team, or the program director with diagnostic feedback on what works and what doesn't. This data can help you to determine how to modify the course. Second, evaluation provides information for institutional decision making. At some institutions first‑year seminars can prove controversial or may not be highly valued. In such situations course evaluation or related institutional research can be important to build institutional support for continuance of the course.

Process

Regardless of whether you have a common syllabus or a series of sections taught differently by different instructors, a simple instrument may provide all the information you will need. 

Evaluation

1.	a. What did you understand to be the purpose of the seminar?

b. Did it achieve its purpose?

2.	a. What do you understand to be the purpose of the journal?

b. Was keeping a journal of value to you?

3.	Did this course help you improve your a. Writing skills?

b. Speaking skills?

4.	Listed below are some major activities of the seminar. If you did
	not attend the activity, write "absent" and go on to the next item.
	If you did attend, indicate with a "yes" or "no" whether you found
	the activity beneficial, and explain in what way the activity was or
	was not beneficial.
	a. Exercises designed to introduce members of the group

b. Drawbridge exercise

c. Symposiums

d. Papers on assigned readings

e. Presentations on taking essay exams, reading a book, and taking notes

f. Mini‑College

5.	Did you find the college activities you attended /art exhibit, play, and so on) beneficial? If so, in what way?

6.	Did the course neglect to cover something you thought was important? If so, what?

THE 1‑MINUTE PAPER

Patricia Cross, now at the University of California at Berkeley, suggests a simple device called the 1‑minute paper. The idea is to conclude a regular class lecture or discussion a minute or two before the end of class time. Then, ask each student to take out a sheet of paper and write down brief answers to two questions:

1. What is the big point you learned today?

2. What is the main unanswered question you leave class with today?

A box is placed on a table near the classroom door, and students simply drop their papers in the box as they leave. The papers are written anonymously for the professor to read after class Light, 1990/.

You can modify the evaluation to list the specific activities that you included in your course. After you have administered the evaluation, tabulate the results for all the classes and draw some generalizations for future modification and planning.
End‑of‑term evaluations, however, cannot help in the middle of the semester. They will not help you decide what to do next week. "Many faculty members point out that feedback during a course when immediate changes and midcourse corrections are still possible, is even more valuable" (Light, 1990. One widely used technique is the 1‑minute paper. At the end of a class session have students take a minute or two to write about the class.
Another means of midcourse evaluation is the journal itself. Ask students to comment on the usefulness of specific classes and on other matters pertaining to the class. Remember, the journal is a major form of feedback.
For the broader objective of institutional effectiveness, you will want to plan a strategy with your director of institutional research. Numerous studies of first‑year programs have tested the seminar's impact on retention/persistence, campus involvement, academic success, and so on. The National Resource Center for The Freshman Year Experiences"' at the University of South Carolina (see p. R‑1 / can provide you with some assistance on how to plan an assessment of the effectiveness of your first‑year program.

Reflections on Evaluation

An evaluation research project should be part of your first‑year course plan from the beginning. First‑year program enthusiasts know the program's positive effect on entering students, have directly seen and experienced its value, and can support their views with a myriad of anecdotal reports. The persuasive function of research, however, is without equal in convincing faculty and administrators of the value of a first‑year program. At some colleges the first‑year seminar has received more scrutiny and examination than any other program, and the positive results of planned research have enabled it to survive.