Fishbowl Activity

What is it?

This activity helps engage students with learning materials through group discussion.  It focuses on observation, participation, reflection and problem-solving skills. Fishbowl discussions require pre-class preparation and students will need explicit instructions to understand the requirements of the activity.

The key is that students in the fishbowl participate in the discussion of the topic that is being presented and the students outside the fishbowl listen and take notes about the various perspectives and ideas that are being presented.

Why use it?

• To structure meaningful discussion across a wide range of topics.
• To encourage increased level of student participation.
• To promote critical thinking and group discussion skills.
• It enables teachers to incorporate self and peer-assessment techniques to improve students’ presentation skills and ability to present different perspectives.

How do I do it?

• Choose the topic under discussion – this could be an extension from the previous session or incorporated as part of the current session.
• Choose a group of 4-6 students placed in the fishbowl (inner circle) and the rest of the class in the outside of the fishbowl (outer circle).
• Ensure students are aware of their roles and responsibilities:
  • Students in the fishbowl are only allowed to speak, present and discuss their perspectives.
  • Students outside the fishbowl listen and make notes about the various perspectives and ideas that are being discussed and presented.
• Facilitate the discussion by posing relevant questions only and not offering your own opinions. Once the students become familiar and comfortable with the process one option might be to choose a student to play the role of facilitator.
• Allow the session to continue for 15-20 minutes and then rotate the students in and out of the fishbowl in order to provide opportunity for every student to offer their viewpoints.
• At the end get the students to debrief either individually, in pairs or in groups based on their observations of the session.

Watch the video  below as it outlines the process of the snowball activity, and how it can be adapted for online settings.  

Considerations

• You can use the activity as an alternative to traditional debates.
• You can use think-pair-share , one-minute paper or presentation as part of the debriefing session.
• This activity lends itself to a hybrid online/face-to-face mode – consider combining students in the two modes.
  • A set of online students can be the ‘fish’. These students discuss the topic while the observers (other set of online students and face-to-face students) take notes in a shared document.
  • The observers then synthesise the discussion using backchannel technologies or as part of a group work activity.