How to make warm-up activities effective

 

As discussed in the previous entry, warm-up activities need to be short and straight to the point and we need to plan a way of processing the information which receives focal attention during the activity.

Another important aspect to consider for these activities is motivation.  One major theory was proposed by Ausubel (1968), who pointed out that all human beings are moved by six inner drives that construct motivation. These are described in H.D. Brown’s  "Principles of Language Learning and Teaching" (1997:169)

·         The need for exploration, for seeing “the other side of the mountain,” for probing the unknown

·         The need for manipulation, for operating –to use Skinner’s term- on the environment and causing change

·         The need for activity, for movement and exercise, both  mental and physical ;

·         The need for  stimulation, the need to be stimulated by the environment, by other people, or by ideas, thoughts and feelings

·         The need for knowledge,  the need to process and internalize the results of exploration, manipulation, activity and stimulation, to resolve contradictions, to quest for solutions to problems and for self-consistent systems of knowledge

·         Finally, the need for ego-enhancement, for the self to be known and to be accepted and approved of by others, or, what Dörnyei (2005 :93) calls the “self-system.”

Let’s consider one example:

Imagine you will work on a listening/reading/video activity related with the topic “GENE EDITING.”

-          Show a picture of double helix being edited, for example:

-          Ask the questions: A- what do you know about genes?

B-     How do they influence the way we look/our character/the diseases we can get?

C-     Do you think genetic modification could be dangerous in any way?

Following Ausubel's six inner needs, the satisfied ones are: exploration, mental activity, stimulation, knowledge and ego enhancement.

Exploration: this need is satisfied when students are asked to share what they know about genes -a possibly unfamiliar topic for them.

Mental Activity: the questions require a cognitive activity because they will have to compare their personal features, their past experiences and the knowledge of the world so that they can infer the way in which genes can affect themselves.

Stimulation: students will be stimulated by the topic and the environment, especially when they are able to answer the questions referring to their own distinctive features.

Knowledge: this need will be obviously satisfied when they process and internalize the results of the previous needs.

Ego enhancement: it is satisfied because of the level of challenge the questions imply. Besides, when they are asked to give their personal opinion, they can be accepted by their peers and by themselves.

At the same time, this is an instance of cross curriculum with Biology, in which students have the possibility to relate new concepts with their knowledge and express them in another way.

As you can see, a simple warm-up activity is a complex learning instance.

 What about taking these inner needs into consideration next time we plan warm-up activities?