Nursing Education and Taking Icebreakers Creative Ideas as Strategy
Getting Started with Icebreakers In Nursing Education
Using introductions and icebreakers helps set the tone for the class and provides a forum for the creative teaching focus. You’re getting the class on the right wavelength for innovative teaching and learning methods. These strategies also give you an opportunity to quickly assess the students, you can discover their levels of motivation, backgrounds, objectives for the clan, and openness to innovative teaching strategies.
Icebreakers may initiate conversation, allowing for future participation and group discussion. Most important, they provide a means for the instructor to build a rapport with the class and to ensure that both you and the students are comfortable and ready for lessening.
IDEAS
Shapes Define Your Personality
General Description
This strategy displays shapes on an overhead projector, in PowerPoint format, or as regular slides. Participants choose a shape on the basis of selected criteria, and then discussion ensues.
Preparation and Equipment You’ll need an overhead projector, black board, PowerPoint setup, and writing implements. You may draw the pictures in front of the class or haring them always prepared.
Example of the Strategy at Work To break the ice, participants are asked to determine which shape matches their style of nursing, personality, learning style, or any other personal characteristic. As an additional icebreaker, encourage class members not to pick shapes that resemble their body types.
The instructor then explains the psychoses metric interpretations of each shape. Psych geometric theory, according to Dellinger, dictates that the following shape choices appear to correlate with certain personality types.
Squares Organized, structured, rigid, tank-oriented, concrete, no ideas-all “do” Circles: People lovers-caring, nurturing, harmonic
Rectangles: In transition-confused, don’t know what to choose.
Triangles: Leaders make decisions, work well with squares, take charge, delegate, may be ruthless in their leadership styles and management methods “Squiggly” line Conative, relaxed, idea people little work.
Participants should be given the choice of whether or not to divulge their shape in clan. The instructor should “read” the clan to determine whether thin div closure would encourage group dynamics.
Usefulness of Personality Shaping
This strategy provides unique insights into the group, individual personalities, and how Rach individual relates and contributes to group functioning.
Simply by knowing the group better, students may become more comfortable and ready to participate
Shapes Define Your Personality may provoke some self-exploration inspirits, thoughts, and abilities.
This strategy makes a good team building exercise. After students select their shapes, the class can discuss how the shapes may be used to diagnose group strengths and weaknesses. A group of triangles all leaders-may have a difficult time reaching consensus. A group of squiggly lines might never produce results, but would be very creative.
As discussion continues, members are able to appreciate the value able role each shape brings to the group process, and to understand that a divinity of talents and ideas is needed to optimize group functioning. This strategy is great for building a collegial spirit in a clinical or orientation group.
Get In Line Idea
General Description This strategy is great for the first day of class or for a 1-day class. It’s especially useful for classes in which students will be asked to participate actively or to work in groups, or when students appear rooted in their seats and not engaged in the learning process. The strategy is limited to a group of approximately 10 to 20, although larger groups may be divided.
In this exercise, students line up according to ages, birth month, number of years in a position or with an agency, or alphabetically by first or last name. The fun in this exercise is that the students are for hidden to talk or write. They must use nonverbal communication, such as lip synching, hand gestures, and facial expirations, to determine the correct order.
Preparation and Equipment No preparation or equipment is required. The efficacy of this exercise may be limited by the size of the room.
Example of the Strategy of Work At the beginning of the semester I have used this exercise to get students up, active, and acquainted with each other. Quies or nonparticipative students may become more com for table after having this operantly to interact with others.
Usefulness
If the class is large enough to divide into several groups, each group may try to finish the task first, adding the inclement of competition.
This strategy simplifies the value of nonverbal communication. the frustration of being unable to talk, and the difficulties of being unable to understand the dominant language spoken in a particular setting The group finishing first may be offered a prize. Class may be asked to develop their own ideas for the order of the line.
Introduce Each Other
General Description This strategy is just what the title states the class members pair up, talk for a designated period, and then are asked to Introduce Each Other to the class at large. Pairs may be given a discussion topic, such as “What is your name!” “Why are you taking this dan!” “What type of nursing do you do (want to Dolf.” “What’s the most significant aspect of your life!.” or “What was the most significant event in your life?”
Preparation and Equipment Na equipment or preparation is required. This strategy is most feasible with groups of about 20.
Example of the Strategy of Work The initiative is most successful if all groups have the chance to Introduce Each Other, so you must allow adequate time. The most valuable time to use this exercise is at the beginning of a class session, when group comfort is being established. You can ask the clam to Introduce Each Other to their neighbors or ask them to get up and move to another part of the room.
Usefulness
The strategy may be limited to an introduction within each pair of students. This version aims the need for students to Introduce Each Other to the larger group. It is valuable in larger classes when the available time is restricted. Some classes prefer this version. of the strategy became it’s less obtrusive.
Introductions may assist in breaking up cliques or forging new relationships within a clan. You can set a ground rule requiring participants to pair up with someone they don’t know.
Use this strategy to combat the after lunch “sleepiest” or with a characteristically nonparticipative class.
Introduction questions may be meet specific needs. determined by the objectives of the class. For example, you can ask a nursing education class to discuss educational challenges. the mast creative strategies used, or the most embarrassing teaching moment. Any of these subjects will incite discussions. As you use this strategy, you may stumble on questions that are both fan and relevant to your teaching topics.
A great way to me Introduce Each Other is to have students pair up. They stand face to face and observe each other for several seconds. Each person then turns around and makes three changes in his or her appearance, removing glasses, changing jewelry or hair style, moving clothing amend, or altering position in some way The pair then turns back amend, and cache tries to identify the changes in the other. This tactic reinforces the observation skills needed in nursing and assessment.
This exercise can abo stimulate creativity: the pairs of students can repeat it to see how many changes they and their partners can undergo. The pairs then Introduce Each Other and discuss the changes. Not only does the strategy focus on assessment and creative problem solving, it gets students up and moving. This version is fun and works well in large clans.
A Brush With Fame
Michele Deck uses an innovative icebreaker to work with groups of various sizes and compositions. She calls it A Brush with Fame. In this strategy, students pair up and share their expatriates of meeting a famous person. Deck has found that this exercise provides just the right balance between personal information and privacy.
To illustrate the need for privacy in health care, she emphasizes the Nord to keep professional Brushes with Fame confidential, although they can be shared freely in personal life. She tells the among story of a class participant who won over the class by going on a double date with a famous rock star. Pairs can share their Brushes with Fame and develop a rapport with the whole class by selecting one Brush that’s particularly special.
“Why Are You in Nursing!” and Other Mysteries.
General Description As in the previous strategy, class members form groups of two or three and explore a question posed by the instructor. Pairs or trios may or may not be asked to report the results to the group. Questions may be general or may be specific to the class content or objectives. This strategy can facilitate active listening and active learning and loosen up the class.
Preparation and Equipment You can print the questions and directions for the activity on a PowerPoint or regular slide, or may simply ask the question or questions out loud.
Example of the Strategy at Work I’ve found that this strategy works best when students are given a focused amount of time (5 minutes) and are asked to list a specific number of items.
Then the group shares their ideas. Rather than accept a list of reasons from the instructor, maddens become more invested in the topic by contributing their own ideas and discussions
Consider this strategy any time you plan to teach a list of ideas.
New nursing students or new graduates may be asked, “Why are you in nursing?” “Why did you pick this agency?” and “Why is it important for nurses to know about For continuing education, you’ll need to ask, “Why is it important that nurses know ACLS “Why is it important for nurses to know the legal aspects of nursing practice or any other question that relates to the class objectives.
“Why Are You in Nursing!” can be used at the end of a class to review key concepts, do a mini-evaluation of learning, or open up the floor for questions. Students are asked. “How do you think the information in this class will enhance your nursing practice?” and discussion follows.
This strategy may be done in pairs or trios “Why Are You in Nursing can set the stage for further participation in class, whether the students answer your questions about difficult material or formulate their own questions.
You can ask the same questions without dividing the class into small groups. Be aware that only certain people tend to participate in class. Those who don’t generally participate are allowed to ermain passive during this version of the exercise. The questions da, however, set the stage for later questions that may be put to the class. At that time, you should encourage the quiet students to speak up.
General Description To set students at case, you may want to begin class with an informal, conversational tone. This will entice learners to listen more attentively. Facial expressions may cue the instructor to Che timing of this and other strategies. By building collegiality, Let’s Discuss develops rapport among the students.
In this method, the instructor stimulates discussion by saying, “Let’s Discuss your past experiences with this material “” Let’s Discuss or. “Let’s Discuss the meaning of in running practice.” This method tells your class that you appreciate their knowledge levels and their experience. It also allows students to understand that not all experiences are positive, and may introduce some ways of dealing with negative encounters.
Preparation and Equipment No preparation or equipment is required for this strategy. Example of the Strategy et Work This method has been used many times with a variety of topics.
By simply posing a question, you urge students to share their experiences. You might begin an infant resuscitation class with “Let’s Discuss your previous experiences with neonatal resuscitation.” This strategy guides a preliminary discussion of the issue clarifies what the class knows, and identifies any misconceptions.
Other epics have included “Let’s Discuss your previous experience with diabetes.” “Let’s Discuss your previous experiences with nurses,” “Let’s Discuss your previous experiences with cross training.” “Let’s Discuss how you were able to learn about a new procedure or piece of equip ment,” and “Let’s Discuss your previous experiences with cancer. A cautionary note: Let’s Discuss requires students to participate.
Your tale is to judge the success of the strategy by determining whether you can get students to talk. Part of the value of this strategy is to highlight complex concepts that students don’t find particularly elegant. For example. in a community nursing course, the topic was the value of community awesome.
Several community assessment charts and criteria were scanned into forefront and shown to the class. Conversation began with “Let’s Discuss where you grew up.” Students described their neighborhoods and compared them with those they might work in during clinical rotations. In this situation, community assessment was made real through a discussion about communities in which the class had lived. worked, and traveled.
Usefulness
“Let’s Discuss” is useful for new or controversial topics.
Using PowerPoint allows you to scan in portions of text or questions to spur cleanroom discussion.
“Let’s Discuss” seen the stage for classroom participation, so other group of active learning strategies may be used.
This strategy may be used following another icebreaker to continue to build group process. I’ve used this strategy to summarize a section of study before going on to other topics. Let’s Discuss opens the floor to questions, comments, and free interchange about the topic or material.
Let’s Discuss may be used as a segue to other topic a, for review after breaks, or to reinforce key points. You can use it in the middle of a class when you sense the need for a break or some confusion on the part of the students.
Let’s Discuss may be the perfect strategy to use when you students puzzling over a Muddiest Part.
This strategy changes the mood of a class from lecture to discussion. Simply saying “Let’s Discuss to participate. gives the students license.
In academic settings, this strategy reinforces test material, parts of the text to be reviewed, and areas that may be confusing. It helps students realize that they aren’t the only ones having difficulty with a tough section.
In nonacademic settings. Let’s Discuss allows participants to share their experiences while learning from the experiences of other.
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