Presented By: Jackie Wahrmund, University of Kentucky

Faculty sometimes find it difficult to develop new ways to present course material while also promoting classroom engagement, particularly when students are not comfortable speaking in front of others. Gallery walks are teaching tools that promote active engagement by asking students to physically move around the room and respond to prompts at different stops or stations. An internet search yields many resources about using this technique in K-12 classrooms; however, applications for undergraduate courses are difficult to find. The Animal Science 101 course at the University of Kentucky is offered to a large number of students each semester. Students attend large-enrollment (n>100) lectures twice per week and small-group labs (n<24) once per week. The animal nutrition chapter in ASC 101 tends to be the most challenging, and occurs at an earlier time in the semester when students are still getting to know one another. A gallery walk activity was developed to promote engagement among students in a non-intimidating way during their lab time. Groups of 3 -4 students anonymously responded to 3 prompts at each of the 6 stations in the room. Each station represented a different class of nutrient (water, monosaccharide, disaccharide, polysaccharide, lipid, protein). Prompts included “When I think of (blank) I think of...”, 2) “A fact we know about (blank)” and 3) “A question we still have about (blank).” Students were asked to not duplicate comments already left by their classmates. After each group had visited each station the instructors presented all of the responses to share both the known facts and answer the new questions. This method generated many positive conversations about the course material, both among peers and instructors. Students reported that it helped them understand how nutrients are classified in a new, fun, and engaging way.