Compared to more complex personality assessments, Wired That Way by Marita Littauer, presents four personality types that students find easy to understand and internalize: Popular Sanguine, Powerful Choleric, Perfect Melancholy, and Peaceful Phlegmatic. Students' awareness of their own and their peers' classification in this comprehensive…

Courses: Small Group Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Relational Communication, Communication Theory, Introduction to Communication, or any course with a unit on teamwork or a group project. Objective: This activity engages students in an experiential learning activity through the popular online video game Among Us in order to teach…

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are becoming increasingly commonplace in America's schools. As part of the school community, physical educators are positioned to add and receive value within PLCs. Given that school-based PLCs are driven by collaborative teams, reaching high performing status requires external supportive school structures…

Courses: Small Group Communication, Online Groups and Communities. Objectives: The objectives of this activity are to expose students to common-bond and common-identity group dynamics, including the differences between memberships, as well as member motivations, goals, and outcomes.

This original teaching idea uses an adaption of the STEM activity the Paper Tower Challenge to have students examine task and maintenance roles as well as non-functioning behaviors in small groups. While problem solving as a small group, students navigate conflict and frustration, assume various small-group roles, and then reflect on their own and…

Courses: Group and Team Communication, Communication Theory, Rhetorical/Media Criticism. Objectives: The aims of this single-class activity are to (1) illustrate the basic concepts, processes, and properties of symbolic convergence theory; (2) apply fantasy theme analysis to the decision-making practices of a zero-history group; and (3) critically…

Development of team skills is vital to becoming a successful and productive engineer. To prepare students for successful team-based work, they need a basic understanding of the organizational psychology underpinning teamwork and an introduction to tools and techniques to develop and sustain team effectiveness. The goal of this paper is to…

Confidence in social science research diminished in the 2010s when several published research results failed to replicate. This "replication crisis" increased awareness that findings need to be substantiated, but academic researchers have little incentive to engage in repeating others' research. College students can advance their…

Information sharing is a critical aspect of effective team functioning. However, it can be challenging to discern whether the information communicated is fact, opinion, or someone's best guess (FOG) due to the varied understandings, assumptions, and interests team members bring to any collaboration. In this article, we introduce a role-play…

In a small-group communication course, students participate in a semester-long project to observe an organization while applying many group communication principles, including conflict resolution, group dynamics, teambuilding, leadership, and diversity. In groups of five, the students select any organization, agency, or department on campus or in…

Courses: Persuasion, Group Communication, Communication Theory, Computer-Mediated Communication. Objectives: In this activity, students discuss and analyze film clips in order to understand theories, processes, and applications related to the concept of deindividuation.

Courses: Campaigns, Account Planning, Public Relations (PR), and any other strategic communication course where groups are assigned. Objectives: The purpose of this single-class escape-room activity is to increase students' ability to work in time-demanding group settings while utilizing unconventional methods to reinforce material covered in…

This article outlines a unique student activity designed to close the gap between students' perceived and actual communication and team behavior during virtual group meetings. The Communication Audit exercise requires that students record an online small group meeting and then review the recording while categorizing each verbal remark into…

This case was written for school leaders, specifically for administrators interested in addressing and improving school culture. Often efforts to address toxic culture and organizational change result in resistance, requiring leadership that is capable of influencing and inspiring cultural transformation. However, leaders who embark on these types…

Course: Small Group Communication. Objectives: Students will identify their personality traits; synthesize the relationship between personality, small-group interdependence, and grouphate; and apply collaborative skills and knowledge of individual personality differences in building small-group success.