Using Breakout Groups as an Active Learning Technique in a Large Undergraduate Nutrition Classroom at the University of Guelph

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 différentes, cependant, le manque d’information publiée sur leur utilisation au premier cycle confirme la nécessité d’effectuer des recherches sur ce format dans ce contexte. Le présent article rend compte d’une étude portant sur l’utilisation des petits groupes au premier cycle dans le cadre particulier d’un cours magistral de 4e année sur la nutrition dans un espace physiquement limité. Au total, 220 étudiants ont participé à un sondage à la moitié du trimestre et 229 ont répondu à un sondage à la fin du trimestre visant à mesurer le niveau de satisfaction. Les chercheurs ont ensuite analysé les données de manière à mesurer les relations entre la perception que les étudiants avaient de l’efficacité des petits groupes et 1) le sexe, et 2) la moyenne pondérée cumulative (MPC). Les résultats des deux sondages révèlent que plus de 85 % des étudiants étaient soit d’accord, soit tout à fait d’accord