Learning & Teaching

What is it?

A world café is a method for encouraging students to contribute to discussions on specific themes or topics. Estacio and Karic (2016), who used the world café format as a research method, refer to it as “a community engagement method that encourages participants to engage in reflection and dialogue in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere” (p. 731) which is student-centred and encourages a variety of solutions or ideas. Each topic is usually assigned to a small group around a round table, with an educator present to facilitate the conversation and ensure discussion ideas and contributions are recorded. After the students at the table have contributed to the topic (usually after a set period of time), they move onto the next table, and so on, while each facilitator remains at the same table to capture the depth and breadth of discussion for all groups. This is often used as an evaluation method but can also be used for students to solve problems or discuss cases at each table.

 

How does it work?

Usually, a world café would take place in a flat floored active learning space. Each table would have a facilitator; normally this is the lecturer however in practice this could be Graduate Teaching Assistants or even students who have been designated a leadership role to facilitate and collect information. Each table, usually round, would have a paper tablecloth or flipchart sheets and pens; alternatively, a technology-enhanced active learning (TEAL) space would provide scope for recording responses on the computer. Learners would be given a designated time, perhaps 10-20 minutes, to respond to a theme or topic of discussion.

Once students have gone round all the tables (either in the same small groups, or separately) addressing all problems or cases, the facilitators will feed back the content of the discussions to the whole class, and the lecturer will clarify answers/solutions as appropriate. Alternatively, students might be asked to collate their learning as a cooperative output such as a poster, which can be presented to the rest of the class.

Filies et al. (2016), who used a world café to facilitate learning about inter-professional learning in the health professions, note seven key principles established by the World Café Community Foundation: “setting the context and understanding why groups are being brought together; creating a hospitable space that encourages trust; exploring questions that are relevant to real-life situations faced by the group; encouraging participation and connecting diverse perspectives; collectively considering the different perspectives; and, finally, sharing collective discoveries” (p. 229).

 

Does it work?

The University of Aveiro Portugal used a TEAL type space in combination with the world café method to facilitate learning of biomedical sciences (Pinto-Pinho et al., 2023); students reported being engaged, that it improved their learning experience and developed their communication skills, and described the class as ‘dynamic’, ‘innovative’, ‘interesting, and ‘different’. While the activity required a high tutor-to-student ratio and up front preparation, students were more motivated, and the resulting visual posters were considered more inclusive to students who struggle with traditional lectures.

 

What do I need?

For a face-to-face class, you will need a flat-floored teaching room, a paper tablecloth or flipchart sheets and pens (or alternatively a learning technology option such as Padlet boards or Word documents in a technology-enhanced active learning (TEAL) space), and a timer for indicating when participants need to rotate to the next table. Estacio and Karic (2016), in their research, used posters to create the informal atmosphere of a café, and ‘menus’ at each table to indicate potential routes of conversation. It is also possible to include post-it notes for students to ‘annotate’ existing discussion points or topics.

Western Sydney University also advise that for an online synchronous class, it is possible to do this in breakout rooms in a virtual classroom such as Zoom (using the whiteboard feature or an interactive board (e.g. Padlet) to capture ideas), or asynchronously online using a discussion forum or Teams.

 

References

Estacio, E. V., & Karic, T. (2016). The World Café: An innovative method to facilitate reflections on internationalisation in higher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 40(6), 731-745. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2015.1014315   

Filies, G. C., Yassin, Z., & Frantz, J. M. (2016). Students’ views of learning about an interprofessional world café method (Vol. 8) [Interprofessional education; World café; Health professions education; Interprofessional curriculum; Interprofessional core competencies]. http://www.ajhpe.org.za/index.php/ajhpe/article/view/844

Pinto-Pinho, P., Ferreira, A., Matos, B., Santiago, J., Henriques, M. C., Corda, P. O., Lima, T., Rodrigues, M., de Lourdes Pereira, M., & Fardilha, M. The World Café method and spaces dedicated to active teaching & learning: A dynamic combo that motivates students for biosciences learning. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2023.2259384