%0 Journal Article
%T Using Breakout Groups as an Active Learning Technique in a Large Undergraduate Nutrition Classroom at the University of Guelph
%A Justan Lougheed
%A James Kirkland
%A Genevieve Newton
%J Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
%D 2012
%I Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
%X Breakout groups have been widely used under many different conditions, but the lack of published information related to their use in undergraduate settings highlights the need for research related to their use in this context. This paper describes a study investigating the use of breakout groups in undergraduate education as it specifically relates to teaching a large 4th year undergraduate Nutrition class in a physically constrained lecture space. In total, 220 students completed a midterm survey and 229 completed a final survey designed to measure student satisfaction. Survey results were further analyzed to measure relationships between student perception of breakout group effectiveness and (1) gender and (2) cumulative GPA. Results of both surveys revealed that over 85% of students either agreed or strongly agreed that using breakout groups enhanced their learning experience, with females showing a significantly greater level of satisfaction and higher final course grade than males. Although not stratified by gender, a consistent finding between surveys was a lower perception of breakout group effectiveness by students with a cumulative GPA above 90%. The majority of respondents felt that despite the awkward room space, the breakout groups were easy to create and participate in, which suggests that breakout groups can be successfully used in a large undergraduate classroom despite physical constraints. The findings of this work are relevant given the applicability of breakout groups to a wide range of disciplines, and the relative ease of integration into a traditional lecture format.Les enseignants ont recours aux petits groupes dans de nombreuses conditions diff¨¦rentes, cependant, le manque d¡¯information publi¨¦e sur leur utilisation au premier cycle confirme la n¨¦cessit¨¦ d¡¯effectuer des recherches sur ce format dans ce contexte. Le pr¨¦sent article rend compte d¡¯une ¨¦tude portant sur l¡¯utilisation des petits groupes au premier cycle dans le cadre particulier d¡¯un cours magistral de 4e ann¨¦e sur la nutrition dans un espace physiquement limit¨¦. Au total, 220 ¨¦tudiants ont particip¨¦ ¨¤ un sondage ¨¤ la moiti¨¦ du trimestre et 229 ont r¨¦pondu ¨¤ un sondage ¨¤ la fin du trimestre visant ¨¤ mesurer le niveau de satisfaction. Les chercheurs ont ensuite analys¨¦ les donn¨¦es de mani¨¨re ¨¤ mesurer les relations entre la perception que les ¨¦tudiants avaient de l¡¯efficacit¨¦ des petits groupes et 1) le sexe, et 2) la moyenne pond¨¦r¨¦e cumulative (MPC). Les r¨¦sultats des deux sondages r¨¦v¨¨lent que plus de 85 % des ¨¦tudiants ¨¦taient soit d¡¯accord, soit tout ¨¤ fait d¡¯accord
%K active learning
%K breakout group
%K group-based learning
%K SoTL
%K higher education
%K nutrition
%U http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/cjsotl_rcacea/vol3/iss2/6