Community Circles: An experiential exercise for an Introduction to 0rganizational Behavior course

diversity, psychological safety, discussion participation, experiential

In this paper we describe the use of an experiential exercise, we call “Community Circles”, which facilitates cultural understanding and increases discussion participation in an Introduction to Organizational Behavior course. We suggest that this experiential exercise also increases psychological safety early on in the course. Prior research has shown that creating psychological safety for students helps learning on many levels, and it is essential for high participation in discussions. We describe how to use “Community Circles” and our experience using it in both undergraduate and graduate Introduction to Organizational Behavior courses.

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