An Interactive Classroom Icebreaker and Parting-Ways Activity to Introduce and Review the Effector Functions of Cellular Players Associated with the Immune Response

INTRODUCTION

This activity was designed to be implemented in an undergraduate immunology course but could be adapted for other courses, including microbiology and human anatomy and physiology, which explore the immune system as a stand-alone unit. The aims of the activity are (i) to help foster a positive learning community while introducing course content in an engaging fashion through an interactive icebreaker, (ii) to provide students with colorful visuals and analogies for learning effector functions of cells associated with the immune system, and (iii) to provide an interactive course wrap-up activity for students to practice retrieving knowledge of immune cell development, function, and interactions during an immune response.

Icebreaker activities are frequently used by instructors on the first day of class to help establish a safe and collaborative learning environment to springboard student participation in class discussions throughout the semester (1). Students’ previous exposure to common icebreaker activities may lead to the perception that they are cliché, which may limit their effectiveness in the classroom. The most effective icebreaker activities are relevant to course content, introducing new concepts while establishing a positive classroom dynamic (2). At the end of the semester, on the other hand, parting-ways–style activities can be used to facilitate academic and emotional closure to a course and can also be used to synthesize conceptual information leading up to cumulative examinations (3, 4).

The immune system of most vertebrates is a complex array of interacting molecules and cells that involves elegant developmental processes, an elaborate network of interacting cells, and the involvement of diverse tissues and systems. Active learning resources have been developed to help students better understand specific concepts, including how diversity is generated in immunoglobulins and T-cell receptors, with interactive computer models and paper manipulatives (5–8), but the literature currently lacks an interactive and engaging activity that could be used to introduce cells of the immune system and their effector functions and review them with students. Here, we present an engaging active learning activity that can be used to introduce and review cellular players and their functions associated with the immune response. The parallel active learning activities promote retrieval practice, using military analogies to help students learn the effector functions of cells associated with an immune response. Use of analogies (9) and retrieval practice (10) have been demonstrated to effectively facilitate student learning independent of content, which can further support student understanding of challenging concepts.

Specifically, the activity uses the iconic “Hello, my name is” name badges with personified cartoon immune system–associated cell illustrations and biographical information on the back of each name badge (Fig. 1). This activity is designed be used as an icebreaker for the course (or course unit) to expose students immediately to course content, while establishing a setting conducive to learning. The interactive activity can be slightly modified for use as a parting-ways closure exercise that promotes retrieval practice during the final session(s) of the course.

FIGURE 1.

Example of our “Hello, my name is” cell name badge for the icebreaker activity. A) Front side of a cellular name badge with a personified cartoon immune response–associated cell illustration. B) Back side of a cellular name badge featuring a profile/biographical information for the associated cell. The name badge artwork was created by Daisy Chung, who owns the distribution rights and has provided permission for use within the icebreaker and parting-ways activities (daisychung.com).

PROCEDURE

Preparation

Instructors should prepare to present the activity instructions to students by either integrating them into a PowerPoint presentation for classroom projection or by printing physical copies of the student instructional handout (Appendix 1). Enough copies of the immune system–associated cell name badges (Appendix 2) should be printed to accommodate the number of enrolled students within the course. Considering the 13 individual cell types, it is sufficient to select a subset of the cell types for classes smaller than 13 students. For larger classes, options include having duplicate sets of cell name badges or having a small group of students take on the role of hosts, helping to coordinate the interactions between the students with badges. For classes approaching 26 or more students it is suggested to split the class into two separate groups. Students who have the same cell across groups can be asked to review what their cell does during the activity to further promote student interaction.

Icebreaker activity

Randomly distribute the immune system–associated cell name badges to students in the course. Instruct students to take two minutes to read and reflect on the information on the back of their immune cell name badge. Instructors may choose to assign individual students a specific cell for the rest of the semester if the instructor would like to revisit the cell descriptions as the course progresses. Next, indicate to the students that they should start by turning to a peer to introduce themselves as the immune cell outlined on their name badge and then briefly quiz each other on information about each cell (e.g., effector function, location of residence, arm of immune system associated with). Throughout the course, when a new cell type is introduced, the instructor may insert the personified cartoon from the name badges into a presentation for introductions and request information about the cell from a volunteer student who had been previously assigned that cell type. For courses that introduce the immune system as a stand-alone module within a broader scope of topics, an appropriate subset of name badges could be used as a five-minute hook activity to introduce students to the immune system in an engaging fashion.

Following the icebreaker activity, the instructor should bring the class back together for a brief class discussion to compare and contrast the cell types. Discussion questions (Appendix 3) can be used to help students make connections between cell types and understand differences between the innate and adaptive immune responses, in addition to the concept of immunological memory and cells that are instrumental in bridging the two immune responses.

Parting-ways activity

During the last course session, instructors frequently choose to provide an overview of the course, which may focus on identifying common themes in order to synthesize a deep understanding of how content covered throughout the semester converges into a set of overarching principles. The cell name badge activity can be modified to provide an interactive activity to promote this style of synthesis as well as bookend the course to provide both academic and emotional closure.

During the class session prior to the parting-ways activity, assign students to compose an outline of the sequential progression of a typical vertebrate immune response to an extracellular infection in connective tissue. In class, project the activity instructions (Appendix 4) and randomly distribute the immune system–associated cell name badges that lack biographical information on the back, with or without suggestive prompts (Appendices 5 and 6, respectively) to students. Students should individually take three minutes to reflect on the cell type in question and write down all they know about the cell, associated developmental processes, cellular interactions, and its role in the immune response. The instructor may provide students with prompts (Appendix 7) to help students retrieve knowledge. Students should pair up with a peer and quiz each other to brainstorm relevant information about each other’s cell, while adding additional information brought up during discussion to the back of the respective name badge. At this point the students should swap name badges and repeat this process with another peer with a new cell type for further retrieval practice.

Safety issues

None.

CONCLUSION

The activity has received much positive feedback from student participants, with many of the students proudly holding onto their name badges and some displaying them on the cover of their course binder. Observations from a pilot implementation at a small liberal arts college suggest this activity provides an engaging means to introduce content and create community in the classroom. Additionally, use of the modified activity for a parting-ways exercise promotes student use of retrieval practice as well as a framework to synthesize new ideas and connect concepts toward the end of a semester of classroom instruction. The activity was also implemented at a second small liberal arts college with formal student attitudinal and perceptional data collected through a post-activity survey (Appendix 8). Survey data indicate that student participants valued the personified cell cartoon–based icebreaker and parting-ways activities and believe that it positively motivated them to learn about the immune system (Appendix 9, Figs. S1 and S2). Open-response comments to prompts inquiring what participants enjoyed about the activity were coded for emerging themes. Common themes in the response included “peer interaction” and “engagement with course content” (Appendix 9, Table S1). When prompted to respond to what students did not enjoy about the activity or how the activity could be improved, participants overwhelmingly did not cite negative feedback or suggested further weaving the activity into class lessons throughout the semester, which molded the icebreaker activity directions outlined earlier in this article (Appendix 9, Table S1). In addition, preliminary findings suggest that students who self-reported as introverts or extroverts still reported finding value in the icebreaker and parting-ways activities, suggesting these activities might be useful for encouraging participation from students who might otherwise prefer to work independently.