Bridging Story and Research

In this small group activity, students transition between storytelling technique and pitching their research projects, experimenting with ways to bridge the two genres.

Author: Kevin DiPirro

Class: PWR 1/PWR 2

Activity brief description: In this small group activity, students transition between storytelling technique and pitching their research projects.

Schedule: During the research project stage, while students are drafting.

Activity length: 30 minutes

Activity goals:

Use storytelling to deconstruct preconceived separations between academic/story genres
locate already developed communication skills from everyday life
practice bringing these skills into more formal or public speaking situations - rather than imagined selves and "performed" talks

Activity details: Sitting in groups of three, one begins to tell a quick story about something that happened today or recently. I will interrupt and say next. Next person starts telling their story. When everyone has done their story, we will do a round talking about our research interests instead. Quickly share your experiences about the two different genres. Now begin telling research interest again, this time as a story.

Additional notes: This activity was originally shared during a Program Meeting in winter 2013