Beach Ball Strategy
Overview and Goals: Students who may be more reticent or less gregarious can be encouraged to respond to questions by using the beach ball strategy.
How It Operates (Basic Method)
Instead of asking "What's 2 plus 2?" you ask a question that is rich enough to have varied responses.
- In the lecture hall or to a student, you throw the ball.
- The person who discovers it must reply.
- The group is shown the response, and the instructor is free to offer commentary if they choose.
- The process is repeated when the student who answered throws the ball to somebody else.
How it Operates (First Variation: Picture/Graph Prompt)
- The method can be applied in conjunction with a graph or an image.
- Students could be asked to "Tell me something you observe about this image."
- After making one observation, the first person to catch the ball passes it on to the next player.
- This method offers a starting point and allows for a wide range of answers.
Advantages
- The instructor doesn't have to call on students constantly, so students don't feel like the instructor is picking on them.
- In fact, the teacher can throw the ball completely blind the first time.
- The problem of the instructor selecting students is resolved when other students throw the ball.
- Throwing a ball around makes it kind of enjoyable.
- Students find it difficult to become anxious or upset when they are required to respond to the question.
- If a student truly didn't want to respond, they could even dodge the ball.
- It's generally enjoyable and a fantastic way to get students talking.
Applicability (Using with Graduate Students)
At first, the speaker believed that graduate students might find it too silly or goofy. Nevertheless, it has always functioned flawlessly when used with graduate students.
- The nature of the question posed appears to have a greater bearing on the success.
- Asking insightful questions encourages students to contribute their responses.
How it Operates (Variation 2: Ball-Questions)
- Students are loosely expected to answer the question in front of them when they catch the ball that is thrown into the classroom.
In Summary
It is characterized as a nice, inexpensive, and fairly flexible technique.
