The “icebreaker distribution”

A smooth and gentle introduction to working together… and statistics

Purpose and aims

This exercise can be used to introduce a session, possibly about statistics, for students who don’t necessarily know each other, and who may feel a bit out of depth. It creates opportunities to open up and dispel the impostor syndrome that’s so often attached to technical topics, like statistics.

In the e-ReproNim FENS NENS Cluster, we used that exercise the first time all students on the Cluster met for a session together. It was organised hybrid to accommodate students from 3 campus.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the exercise, participants will

• be more comfortable about how they feel about statistics or any technical topic;
• have a more accurate sense that most people in the group feel the same way they do;
• feel empowered to engage in learning about statistics;
• understand what a distribution means in statistics.

The convenor should also develop a more accurate idea of how the group behaves, and what they know about statistics.

Preparation

To accommodate a session online, we recommend using a participatory platform like Jamboard (note that Google will discontinue Jamboard by Dec 2024). The exercise should work the same in face-to-face contexts, using a whiteboard of sort, providing participants with pens or post-its.

Draw an empty graph: the y-axis should read “Number of students” and the x-axis should be anchored with “Very uncomfortable” on one end and “Very comfortable” on the other.

We used this exercise as an introduction to a dedicated session about statistics (before the Maslow’s pyramid of (statistical) concepts), but there is no reason why you couldn’t use it for students to reflect about something else, like how they feel about programming.

Ask the students to place a marker on the axes that reflect how comfortable they feel about that particular topic. As a convenor, then engage in a discussion to explain that no one was ever born knowing about the topic, and build their confidence in their ability to engage with the learning.