I Wrangled 120 College Students Outside

Want to hear a crazy story? One time I took 120 college students outside.  All at the same time.  On a warm spring day.  About halfway through the semester. 

Maybe for some of you that doesn’t sound so bad, but sometimes keeping college students’ attention—especially as the weather warms up near the end of the semester—is like wrangling 5-year-olds!  In a moment of brilliance, or bravery, or stupidity perhaps, instead of keeping them captive in the lecture hall, I brought them outside.  And expected them to listen to me.

So what happened?  I gave a 5-minute (remember, limited attention span) introduction to the topic of the day: biomes of the world.  Then I set them loose on each other.

The Preparation

Of course, I didn’t just expect them to “do something” for an hour with only 5 minutes of instruction!  As homework the weekend before, each student researched two biomes, and prepared notes on the important points. 

I told them that I wasn’t going to lecture on the topic.  But there would be questions on the upcoming exam about today’s topic.  That got everyone’s attention!

They would need to know about all 10 biomes.  Not just the two that they researched.  And even if two students compared notes on the same biome, they probably had unique information.  So, everyone would need to work together to get the information for the exam. 

Did It Work?

I was a bit apprehensive about setting that many students loose on campus.  But I was pleased to see that most students pulled out their notes and started talking to each other!

Only a handful sat down under a tree with their phone to search Google.  Maybe they’re shy or have social anxiety.  No problem.  They’re still getting the benefits of being outside.  If you didn’t see it, check out my previous post on some of the benefits teaching outside.

Some football players got off topic.  They’re a boisterous and confident bunch, so this wasn’t surprising.  But when I asked them to tell me about their biomes, all of them had facts to share!     

As the class progressed, students moved around to find peers with more of the information they needed.  Larger groups settled on the grass to share notes.  Singles and pairs meandered back and forth across the campus fountain.

By the end of the hour, most groups were chatting about other things.  Jobs.  Sororities.  Sports.  Some were taking selfies.  But almost all 130 of them stayed, even when they were done with the day’s activity.  Maybe this “taking the classroom outside” thing isn’t so bad!  

And you know what?  It went well enough that I took them outside two more times before the end of the semester!