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).