Bingo for beginners: a game strategy for facilitating action learning

This paper demonstrates the use of a game strategy in a large first year sociology class. Designed in the first instance to facilitate students’ understanding of sociological concepts, the strategy also enables teachers to elicit reactions to the process which serve as teaching points about the theory and practice of social research. In this teaching method ideas about theoretical concepts and operational definitions are tackled in a manner which students find meaningful and enjoyable (and therefore memorable). The approach would be suitable for modification to other large group teaching situations.