Thursday, August 1, 2024

During my time in the practicum for the Center of Teaching at the University of Iowa, I regularly selected and facilitated icebreaker activities for my peers and our instructors. My goal was to better understand what kinds of questions worked the best as icebreakers to foster a sense of community and trust with each other. I found that the success of an opening question icebreaker depended largely on the way that the question was worded, but by framing the language of the question the instructor could help avoid negative responses and tie responses into the topics being presented that day. After each icebreaker activity, I held a debriefing session to learn about each person’s thoughts, what worked the best, and what didn’t work. Conducting these icebreakers shaped the ways we interacted with each other both as academics and as human beings outside of academia. While our practicum did not have many students, I firmly believe that icebreaker activities genuinely helped create a sense of community among us. 

What are Icebreakers? 

Icebreakers are open ended questions or activities presented by the instructor to the students at the beginning of the class. These questions/activities can include a wide range of topics and can be easily formatted to fit the kind of engagement you are hoping to receive from the class. In order to sound more personal, some may refer to icebreakers by the name of the activity or as a “question of the day,” “getting-to-know-you exercise,” or “warm-up activity” rather than as an icebreaker. 

Why Should We Include Icebreakers? 

When the instructor leads an activity or asks an opening question, it allows both the instructor and the students to practice their deep listening skills. It also helps create and foster a community where they can show their values and feel involved in conversation through low-stakes methods. In Alison Cook-Sather and Khadijah Seay’s work titled “I was involved as an equal member of the community how pedagogical partnership can foster a sense of belonging in Black female students,” they state that extensive research has long supported the concept of a sense of belonging being “key to student success” (Cook-Sather & Seay, 734). They identify belonging as feeling valued, connected, and respected. This sense of belonging enables individuals to feel as if they are a part of a community and that their abilities are accepted and recognized (Cook-Sather & Seay, 734). This is especially important in courses with less discussion or with intense discussions as it allows for everyone to feel more comfortable with one another. While conducting icebreakers, instructors can also learn about the preferences and goals of the students they are teaching and make future examples or assignments more personalized.  

Sample Icebreakers 

Here are some suggestions to inspire you, please adapt them to your context and goals. 

Questions: 

  • “If you could spend the day with anyone outside of your family who has passed away, who would it be?”  
    • If time allows, consider adding “What would you do?”  
  • “What was your favorite movie as a kid and what is it now?” 
  • “What is your favorite thing about getting to go to the University of Iowa?” 
  • “What was the last thing that you read that was not for classes? You can tell us about social media posts, novels, comic books or anything else.” 
  • “If you could go to any fictional place, where would you go?” 
  • “What has been your favorite class at the University of Iowa and why?” 
  • “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?” (Himmelsbach 2023) 
  • “What song(s) remind you of your childhood?” 
  • “What was the last movie or TV show that you watched?” 
  • “If you could invite any three famous people to a dinner party, who would you invite?” (Himmelsbach 2023) 
  • “Do you have any pets? If not, what is your dream pet? If pets are not an important part of your life, tell us about something else that you care about, such as plants.” 

Activities: 

  • People Bingo: In this activity you will give the students bingo cards filled with characteristics of a person avoiding physical characteristics (ex: has a cat, plays the guitar, etc.) and they will be tasked with finding another student with those characteristics with the goal of getting a bingo. (Desthuis-Francis 2023) 
  • Guess Who?: In this activity you will ask the students to write down three fun facts about themselves on a notecard. Once finished, the students will pass their notecards to the instructor. The instructor will then read off the fun facts and the students will guess who the original writer of the notecard is. 
  • Two Truths and a Lie: Depending on the size of the class, this activity can be done in small groups. The student will say two truths about themselves and one lie and the other students will then guess which is the lie. (Desthuis- Francis 2023) 

What To Keep in Mind When Coming Up With an Icebreaker  

Recommendation #1: Aim for low-stakes questions 

One of the most common types of icebreaker questions revolves around sharing a favorite, but these types of questions can sometimes leave the student feeling put on the spot and pressured by time constraints. There are several ways you can format “favorites” questions to help alleviate the stress that a student might feel from trying to pick just one thing in such a short amount of time. Some ways to work around this is by inviting students to share multiple favorites rather than one or wording the question as “a favorite” rather than “your favorite.” Another way is by asking them to share their favorites when they were a child versus currently. For other questions that may require the students to pick one answer in a short time frame, you can invite them to share their initial answer to the question as well as their thought-out answer. 

Recommendation #2: Integrate icebreakers into the goals and timing of the class session 

These solutions may require more time to be allotted for icebreakers. Before deciding on your icebreaker question or activity for the day, consider how much time you are willing to allot for opening the class. For those with less time for conducting icebreakers and/or those with large class sizes, consider having the students share their answers with those next to them rather than with the entire class.  

Recommendation #3: Prioritize including everyone in your icebreaker 

When coming up with your own icebreakers it's important to make sure that your questions/activities are inclusive. For example, questions revolving around one’s favorite vacation could exclude those who might not have had the resources or time to travel. You can avoid possibly receiving problematic responses by focusing your icebreakers on personal topics and avoiding topics that generate debate. Provide flexibility in ways that students can respond to an icebreaker prompt. For example, to the last icebreaker in the question list, we added several options beyond the initial question “Do you have any pets?”.   

The Value of Including Icebreakers: A Student Perspective 

Opening every class session with an icebreaker question or activity allows students to participate in a casual dialogue with their peers and instructors while building a sense of trust and community within the classroom. For me, as a student, a sense of community within the classroom has always been important because feeling comfortable and trusting those around me allows me to perform academically. My time as a Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies major has solidified my belief in the importance of inclusion and equity within the classroom as without these factors students are left to navigate negative experiences that directly impact their education. Implementing fun icebreakers gives students something to look forward to every time they attend class, and you might even find that they are willing to submit suggestions of icebreaker questions/activities of their own. Students want to share their ideas, so consider inviting students to send their suggestions to you or post them in ICON. Each instructor will have their own personal preferences for what kind of icebreakers they find the most impactful. Trying out other icebreakers and identifying what you liked/disliked about them is essential to finding your own preferences and creating your own icebreakers to foster the learning environment that every student deserves. 

For more icebreaker ideas, please read the Handbook for Teaching Excellence


References 

Desthuis-Francis, L.-K. (2023, September 15). 10 Fun Icebreakers for College Students to Better Connect. Ready Education. https://www.readyeducation.com/blog/10-fun-icebreakers-for-college-students-to-better-connect 

Himmelsbach, V. (2023, December 6). 20 Classroom Icebreakers for College Professors . Top Hat. https://tophat.com/blog/classroom-icebreakers/  

Alison Cook-Sather & Khadijah Seay (2021) ‘I was involved as an equal member of the community’: how pedagogical partnership can foster a sense of belonging in Black, female students, Cambridge Journal of Education, 51:6, 733-750, DOI: 10.1080/0305764X.2021.1926926