Recently I wrote a blog post profiling Jacqueline Berry and her use of IF-AT ‘scratch cards’. In this post I talk to another IF-AT user: Yen Phan from the UTS School of Business. Yen is a casual academic in the Management Discipline Group who tutors in the area of strategic operations and supply chain management at the undergraduate level. In this Q&A session, Yen shares her IF-AT design and insights with us.
Q&A
Adam: Hi Yen and thanks for your time. You have used the IF-AT cards a few times now. Can I start by asking why do you use them?
Yen: Thanks Adam, I have found that using IF-AT cards makes for an interesting activity with lots of benefits in my classes.
Adam: It’s great that you use the cards. Do you remember why you originally decided you use them? I mean, not every person that attends my workshop requests some cards to trial. Why did you?
Yen: I remember that in your workshop, you brought us–the participants–together with the IF-AT cards. Indeed, the cards enabled us to solve the problems effectively with strong discussion and great collaboration. I then thought this might work in a similar way in my classes, and it truly did. As a result, you have received my emails asking for the cards every semester.
Adam: There are lots of ways in which people use the cards as part of their learning design. How do you use them?
Yen: I include the scratch card activity as mini in-class-revisions, normally at the middle and/or the end of semester. I prepare some multiple-choice questions that help students recap and recall important contents of the subject then let them collaboratively find the right answers in a small group of two/three using the cards. In this way, my students are able to gain benefits in: (1) recapping the tutorial contents, (2) learning from each other, (3) being more active in group discussions, and (4) enjoying a fun game…all in one! I also offer small prizes for the fastest groups achieving highest scores that makes the game more exciting.
Adam: What’s the response from students? What do they say about the cards and/or your learning design?
Yen: I observed that my students are very interested and participate in this activity seriously. Some directly come to me to say thanks for such a helpful and enjoyable game after the class. Some even say it’s one of the best aspects of my tutorials in the SFS.
Adam: That’s it from me. Many thanks for your time. Any closing comment about the cards?
Yen: The assessment of my subject includes some online quizzes. My students also say that the cards help them to be more familiar and confident in doing the quizzes.
Take that next step
Yen ‘took that next step’ after my workshop and tried the cards. I always admire UTS staff like Yen who see an opportunity to enhance the learning experiences of our students. Yen and her students are both now benefitting from the cards and her design. You and your students could as well.
If you want to learn more about the cards, take a look at the official website here.
You can also look at my original blog on the power of the IF-AT card, my Q&A session with IF-AT user Jacqueline Berry, and Katie Duncan’s coverage of the cards at my active and collaborative workshop.
UTS academics are welcome to get some cards from me or contact me to talk further about them, just send me an email.
Photo by James Pritchett on Unsplash