This single-class activity augments the popular desert island activity to include a secret insider who aims to influence their group covertly. The motivation for this augmented activity is twofold: (1) to highlight and dispel notions of invulnerability to groupthink and (2) to provide an opportunity to engage in small-group decision making. To…

This conceptual article examines the role of team-building in outdoor learning, reviews group development theory in relation to teamwork, and outlines the Behaviour Analysis model as a tool to facilitate team-building. Working with this foundation, the theory and model are combined with discussion about team, leader, and facilitator behaviours at…

Three staples of management and organizational behavior classes are units on creativity, problem solving, and group decision making. This article presents an experiential exercise in creative problem solving in which the participants attempt to create a cartoon caption both individually and in small groups. The cartoons all come from "The New…

Inclusivity and diversity are critical to maximizing team performance. This activity incorporates a popular party game that connects students with the learning objectives, demonstrating the vital roles inclusion and diversity play in the success of a business and the importance of building skills for maximizing teamwork. With little instruction to…

Purpose: This paper aims to provide an overview of the development of learning organization concepts from the perspective of Nancy Dixon, who has been at the forefront of the learning organization discussion since the 1980s. Design/methodology/approach: Through a conversation with Dixon, and a scan of some of her works, this paper discusses…

Agile, Lean, and Scrum (collectively referred to as Agile) are frameworks that help teams collaborate more effectively and transparently on complex projects. Originally developed in business and information technology, these methods have since been adapted for use in a variety of disciplines. Agile is based on iterative and incremental…

Course: Small Group Communication. Objectives: Students will identify their personality traits; synthesize the relationship between personality, small-group interdependence, and grouphate; and apply collaborative skills and knowledge of individual personality differences in building small-group success.

At Phutthachinnarat Sangha College (PSC), Thailand, there is a diversity of students from monastic and secular educational backgrounds, causing learning management, particularly teaching English, more difficult compared with other institutions. To understand and improve this educational context, in this paper, we provide the guidelines for English…

Although fitness can be used as the content for any season, research suggests this rarely occurs. Nonetheless, even when implementing a sport-based season, there are many instructional approaches teachers can employ to further increase activity levels. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide physical educators with practical…

Completing a jigsaw puzzle can be a fun activity, but it can also be a learning experience. Here an exercise is presented that involves student teams completing a simple puzzle while at least one of the members is blindfolded. The blindfolded member is the only member allowed to touch the puzzle pieces, and the other team members have to…

This work describes a two-year project carried out in an Italian technical high school. Through integrated work, the activity involved the efforts of different teachers and students, particularly those in the Chemical, Electronic, and IT departments. They merged their complementary skills to create an inexpensive device that quickly measures water…

Escape rooms are "live-action team-based games where players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal (usually escaping from the room) in a limited amount of time." Escape Rooms are one type of Escape Game, which are narrative-based challenges that use puzzles, tasks,…

Teachers often think of reading activities as silent, individual tasks in which seated students process every word in a copy of a text that the whole class is working with. Instead, in this activity, students will work in groups to practice skimming (identifying general ideas) and scanning (finding specific information) while reading several short…

Researchers and international organisations recognise that the quality of ECEC services is related to a professional and competent workforce. The latter should be part of a "competent system" that is capable of linking staff's initial good education to the possibility of constantly reflecting on ideas and practices. Continuous…

With young people, discussing complex issues such as learning and leading in a focus group can be a challenge. To help prime youth for the discussion, we created a focus group approach that featured a fun, interactive activity. This article includes a description of the focus group activity, lessons learned, and suggestions for additional…