Mayo’s Clinics: Expanding the Range of Activities—Pairs
31 October 2010By Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT
Forming dyads requires students to clarify their own thinking before sharing it with another student, and then discuss it before sharing it with the entire class.
Last month, we discussed using current events in the classroom. This month, we will talk about strategies for using more and varied learning activities in our classroom by focusing on pairs.
Most of us have developed a series of strategies for working with small groups. This Mayo’s Clinic may remind some of you why they are helpful and suggest new ways to work with pairs of students in your classes.
Reasons for Pairs
Using pairs—often called dyads—In class is a way to help students feel comfortable discussing a topic that is new to them or one in which they do not feel well prepared, either because of difficulty learning the material, the lack of time spent studying or for some other reason. By letting them talk with just one other student, they can start to build a vocabulary for the topic and some confidence about the topic. It also enables them to learn from someone else who may know more or less; either way, it can be a learning experience.
Pairs also help shy students, those for whom English is not their first language or those who are reluctant to speak in large groups. It gives them a chance to practice sharing their ideas in a smaller-scale format. They can overcome their unwillingness to participate and their lack of practice by talking with just one other student. It also means that they cannot just sit quietly, since in pairs, both people have to talk. There is no one else to fill the silence.
Pairs can also be used—if you plan carefully—as a way to expand students’ interpersonal skills by arranging pairs of students with different skill sets, varied backgrounds and unusual backgrounds. It helps to bridge gaps among students and build tolerance, acceptance and positive recognition of differences. An especially useful technique for this purpose is asking students to get to know each other and then requiring them to introduce their partner to the entire class. This activity builds listening skills and provides everyone with practice talking in front of the large group.
Basic Model
The most popular model for using pairs or small groups and leading up to large class discussions is known commonly as declare, pair, share and air. It involves asking students to write down their own answers to questions, a case, a situation or a topic (in culinary classes, their own judgment about the product or presentation) before joining with another person to make pairs. In pairs, they share their individual comments or ideas and discuss them in order to develop a clearer, better statement, which is then shared with the large group.
This model encourages students to debate and discuss with one other person and honor each person’s individual contributions. In doing so, they tend to think more critically and examine what they have developed and what the other person has developed. Sometimes, they think more creatively, as well.
This model has worked very successfully in lots of classrooms since it requires students to clarify their own thinking before sharing it with another student and then discuss it before discussing it with the entire class.
Making Pairs
To use pairs most effectively, you may want to consider the ways you currently form pairs, or dyads, and try some new ones. One of the most common ways to put students together in pairs involves asking them to work with their neighbor or the person that they are sitting beside. While this strategy can be easy to use, it does not provide much variety, and it tends to keep students together that have already chosen to sit together.
A second strategy involves getting students to line up according to a range of criteria so that they are not with their normal seating partners. Some of the topics I have used include: lining them up according to the first letter of their last name, their height, the number of months working in the industry, the month of their birth, their birth order, their shoe size, the last letter of their first name, their passion for the subject, their experience in the industry, etc. You can devise other topics as well, but using a variety of them builds interest in the topic for the line-up in the day’s class.
A third strategy gives them choice. I have asked students to pair up with someone they do not know, or someone they want to get to know but have not yet met, someone who would challenge them to grow, or someone who is different from them. In this way, they start to notice their fellow students and are given some freedom to make their own choice, and they begin to get to know their classmates better.
Whichever method you use, consider its impact on students’ learning and on the messages you send by the way you place them in pairs.
Summary
Using pairs can make teaching more fun and learning more productive. Pairs are only one method; next month, we will talk about small groups.
Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT, is a clinical professor at New York University and a frequent presenter at CAFÉ events nationwide. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..