#4: 3-2-1

(Rolheiser, 2011)

Purpose: 3 – 2 – 1 is a graphic organizer that learners use to record ideas, observations and/or reflections related to a specific learning experience.

Procedure:

1. Instructor provides each learner with the 3 • 2 • 1 graphic organizer, including prompts e.g., 3 – Important points from today’s lecture. 2 – Limitations of this perspective. 1 – Question I still have is…? Or 1 point that was unclear was…?
2. Learners reflect on the questions posed and record their ideas on the 3 • 2 • 1 graphic organizer (e.g., after viewing a video, listening to a panel presentation or guest speaker, engaging in a service-learning activity, reflecting on a personal experience, etc.).
3. Learners then share their ideas with others (e.g., Think Pair Share-Technique #5).
4. The instructor listens for patterns in the students’ responses and uses these to debrief or link to the next part of the instruction.

Tip: This is an activity that would work well with a larger scale classroom because it involves individual reflection. Students can respond individually in their seats. Students can either share some of their responses in class and/or you can collect their papers as a Ticket out the Door (Technique #2), compile their responses and then provide a response to students either online or in the next class.