The Pyramid Method

45 min | Team Individual | Activity Activate Resources Coping with uncertainty, ambiguity and risk

The Challenge

A brainstorming technique on values of business ventures. It involves initial individual thinking, then comparing the results in pairs and groups.

List of required equipment

Pen
Paper

What can students learn from this?

Students will learn how to identify underlying values of enterprises and then to collaborate in pairs and increasingly larger groups.

How can I do this in class?

Step 1: the teacher poses the question/presents the problem to the group;

Step 2:students work individually, brainstorming solutions and writing any questions that arise;

Step 3:students form pairs to report the findings and discuss the questions;

Step 4: bigger groups are formed – of equal number of members, if possible and discuss the questions and solutions found so far;

Step 5: the solutions are reported to the class;

Step 6: the final solutions are selected.

Reflection tips

This method is a welcome means to make sure that all the students are involved in the activity. What differentiates this method from other interactive strategies is that it offers space to less involved students to participate. Working in pairs will require even shy or stand-offish students to contribute material to the activity.
Although it is hard to quantify each contribution, this method is more efficient in eliciting ideas from all the students in class.