Center for Excellence in Teaching5-Minute Pidgin: A Constrained Collaboration Activity
May 2025Mary Byram Washburn, Dornsife, Linguistics Department, shares her “5-Minute Pidgin” activity, a dynamic example of active learning through collaboration and constraint. Students work together to complete a task—building origami hats—without a shared language, simulating a key concept in her introductory linguistics course: pidgin language formation. This playful constrained collaboration activity deepens understanding, builds communication skills, and offers a flexible model instructors can adapt across disciplines.