Still More Games Trainers Play

Scannell, Edward E., & Newstrom, John W. (1983).  Still More Games Trainers Play:  Experiential Learning Exercises.  New York: McGraw-Hill.

Below are some techniques from the book.

1)      Playing Card Mixer:  as students enter, they are given a playing card.  Their task is to assemble four other persons to make the best poker hand.  Once they commit to a group, they cannot switch.

2)      Merry Birthday?/Happy Christmas?  For a paired activity, select pairs by cutting the front pages off greeting cards and distributing the parts.  Participants find the person with the other half of their card (emphasize that if two people are wrong, four will actually be wrong!)

3)      Bingo Review:  Just like regular bingo, except the person who fills a square must write the correct answer to the question with the same number.

4)      Matching Review:  This is a race:  give a matching exercise to groups, and the first group to finish wins.

5)      The No-Test Test:  Explain mnemonics (memory tricks—e.g., Every Good Boy Does Fine for EGBDF, the notes on the musical stave).  Each group has to contrive mnemonics for a few concepts from the chapter; put together, it’s a memory system for the entire chapter!

6)      Help Wanted:  have students collectively write a job ad for a “good college student”.  If you want, you can also have them role play the interview process.

7)       To lightheartedly parody excuses for missing class assignments, read the famous insurance excuses (widely available on the internet---e.g., “An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car, and vanished”).

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