7. Pass through the portals and go toward the next edifice where spectators enjoy bread and circuses.
(Student Union) Inside heralders blow their trumpets and proclaim their messages. Return with the
names of two such personages. (Communication personnel)

8. Exit and follow the path to the west. In the next temple lesser gods expound the theories of Plato and
Freud, history and economics. (Classroom building) Others prepare scholars for public services. One
major god governs the area of recordkeeping while a goddess rules the area of interest to Hippocrates.
Find the throne of another goddess who bestows laurels on academicians. Return with evidence of
your meeting these gods. (Division chairpersons)

9, Proceed to the pleasure dome, where the gods please spectators and the academicians cheer the
contenders, Within these confines, Olympians, motivated by images of majestic proportions, train.
Inside this temple identify the facility where natant athletes compete. (Swimming pool) Here rules
the Olympian director of games—"Big Mac." (Athletic director) Have him or an appointed proxy
initial your paper.

10. Perambulate toward the hub of the quad. (Library) Enter the pillared structure and find the lexicon
positioned on the circular wall surrounding the recessed area that houses recent periodicals. Using
this lexicon locate the word Decalogue which pertains to Mosaic laws. Copy the complete
explanation. Here the quest ends; return to the classroom.

“Identifications appear in parenthesis.

Follow-up Activity: THE OLYMPIAN TRIUMPH

Rewrite the directions specifically, explaining unfamiliar words, and describe the learning process
involved. This reaction paper will be due at the beginning of your next class session.

[Prior to the activity, we alerted campus personnel and requested their support in making the quest a
positive experience. As a result of this activity, we sparked enthusiasm not only among our students but
also among colleagues and staff. Others have requested more specific involvement of their discipline in
future activities. |
Student Responses

— "First | expanded my vocabulary by fighting through the instructions, and I sharpened my ingenuity
by making analogies. Next, I discovered the entire campus and met the friendly faculty."

— "I used a dictionary and learned the importance of this tool."

— "I explored places on campus perviously unknown to me and met new people."

— "I liked watching other students try to locate various places after I finished. I learned I was more
outgoing than I thought."

— "We reaped the rewards of an improved vocabulary, thought process, and imagination."

Reassessment
From observation, we suggest these adjustments for a more successful adventure:

1. The arrangement of the clues should be varied, possibly providing four forms (depending upon class
size). Variation would discourage the mass from following a leader.

2. We learned to emphasize the purchase of a collegiate dictionary rather than the usual pocket edition.

3. Group effort appears much less threatening than individual effort and that involving both the physical
and the mental process in an activity refreshes the student.

4. The camaraderie that occurred in designing and implementing the activity cannot be measured.

Mary Barrows Estella Easterly
English Instructor English Department Chair

For further information, contact the authors at Barton County Community College, Rural Route #3, Great
Bend, KS 67530,

 

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor
March 25, 1988, Vol. X, No. 9

INNOVATION ABSTRACTS Is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, EDB 348, The University of
Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512)471-7545. Subscriptions are available to monconsortium members for $35 per year. Funding in
part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are In session during fall and spring
terms and once during the summer.

“ The University of Texas at Austin, 1988
Further duplication Is permitted only by MEMBER Institutions for thelr own personnel. ISSN 0199-106X