1. Your instructor will choose 4 volunteers willing to reveal an interesting true-life background fact about themselves.
Examples of such background facts are as follows:
• I can perform various dances, such as polka, rumba, bossa nova, and salsa.
• I am the youngest of four children, and I attended a Catholic high school.
• Neither of my parents attended school beyond grade 8.
• My mother is a homemaker, and my father is an author.
2. The instructor will put the 4 facts on the board without revealing to which person each belongs, and the 4 students will remain in the front of the room for the first part of the group discussion below.
3. Students in the class should silently decide which fact belongs to which person.
4. Students should break into groups of about 5 or 6 and try to reach consensus about which fact belongs to which person. Meanwhile, the 4 students can serve as observers to group discussions, listening in on rationales for how students decide to link the facts with the individuals.
5. After 15 minutes of group discussion, several groups will be asked to present their consensus to the class, with justifications.
6. The classroom discussion will focus on perceptions, assumptions, and stereotyping that led to the decisions made.
7. At the end of the discussion, the instructor will reveal which fact belongs to each student.