Even More Games Trainers Play

Scannell, Edward E., & Newstrom, John W. (1994).  Even More Games Trainers Play: Experiential Learning Exercises.  New York: McGraw-Hill.

Here are some sample techniques from the book.

1)    Let Me Introduce You:  students fill out 3 x 5 cards with background, job experience, hobbies, etc.  The cards are gathered and shuffled.  Each person picks a card at random.  The person referred to stands while the first person introduces them, then they pick a card, and so on.

2)    A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words:  create pictorial or graphic icons for each concept in a lecture.  Explain each to the group as the concept is presented.  At the end of lecture, have everyone try to list all the concepts from memory.

3)    Does A Straight Beat a Flush?  Each time a person makes a relevant comment or asks a topic-related question, they are dealt a playing card.  The person with the best poker hand at the end of the class wins a prize.

4)    Expectations Fulfilled!  Everyone writes expectations or questions about the subject of the day.  You gather and summarize, dividing them into questions you’ll answer that day and those you won’t.  At the end of class, randomly distribute the “questions you’ll answer” pile and let students answer (they can help each other).

5)    Give Me a Hand:  have each class member brainstorm hypothetical situations in which a concept learned that day could prove useful on the job.  Select the few best and invite them to pretend that their situation actually happened and now they are being honored for their outstanding contribution.  Give fake medals and have the class applaud after each “award.”

6)    The Alphabet Review:  at the end of a unit of content, have groups find a class-related term or concept for every letter in the alphabet.

7)     Wheel of Fortune variant:  here, the rules are slightly different from the game show:  progress around the room, allowing students who answer review questions to guess a letter and try to guess the phrase written on the board (give some “vowel” questions, which are harder). 

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