This assessment activity is good for giving students practice on justifying their positions on various topics and for getting students up and moving around. Clear a sufficient space in the classroom so students may walk from one side of the classroom to the other, from wall to wall, without any obstructions. Next, choose a topic on which there is a range of opinions from one extreme to another and two statements that define the range of those opinions. For example, if you chose food insecurity in schools, you might select the two statements as “schools should always charge all students a fee for school lunch” and “school lunch should be free for all students all the time.”

The next step is to make each wall represent one of these statements. For example, the wall on the north side of the classroom represents “school should always charge all students a fee for school lunch,” while the wall on the south side of the classroom represents "school lunch should be free for all students all the time.” Students are asked to move to the position in the room that best represents their opinion – either along one of the walls if their views represent these extremes or at any point between the two walls if their opinion is somewhere between.

Finally, the instructor asks students standing at various places in the room to describe why they selected that location and attempt to convince others to join them at that location. For example, a student who is standing along the north wall might argue that schools have limited budgets and spending those limited dollars on school lunch takes funding away from other uses that produce bigger benefits to students, while a student who is standing in the middle of the room might argue that school lunch should be free for those who cannot pay but there should be a fee for those families that can afford it. Upon hearing a different opinion, students are free to move to a new location if they wish. Once students from a range of positions have shared their ideas, move on to a new topic.

The point of the exercise is not to have students all end up at a specific location. Rather, as students practice defending their views on various topics the instructor should note misperceptions, gaps in awareness, or topics that should be addressed in the future to fill in gaps in knowledge. For example, if most students were standing along the north wall and were arguing their position due to limitations in school budgets, a future lesson could focus on how schools are funded and the percentage of expenditures in various categories. If most students were standing along the south wall (lunch should be free to all students all the time), a future lesson could look at the causes of community food insecurity and community-wide strategies that might reduce the burden on schools fulfilling students’ need to food.

The “This or That” assessment activity can be done in a just a few minutes and can be used as an energizer or icebreaker when it is observed that students are slipping into a mid-semester post-lunch stupor.

School or clinical placements are a critical component of many programs in the College of Education. A recent article in the Journal of Professional Nursing by Squire, Gonzalez, and Shayan (2024) argues for the importance of creating inclusive climates in clinical placement sites. Although this article focused on the preparation of nurses, its recommendations show promise for application to clinical or school placements in education and mental health:

• Reduce discrimination at clinical sites. Students who experience instances of discrimination at clinical sites “disconnect” from the learning environment and sometimes leave the program altogether. 
• Co-construct shared norms for communication and feedback. Work to create “equitable, humanizing, and safe spaces” where “instructors and students determine the ground rules for how clinical engagements take place, how feedback is exchanged between multiple parties, and how decisions are made in the space.” 
• Role model inclusion for students. Faculty should serve as role models, living out the “highest standards of ethical behavior, fair treatment, attention to their own biases, and advocacy for equitable health outcomes.” 
• View yourself as a life-long learner. Faculty should keep up-to-date on “knowledge, issues, trends and innovative practices” and always “remain learners alongside our students.” 
• Set up formal and informal one-on-one meetings with students. 
• Regularly audit the clinical environment. Examine the clinical placement site itself to ensure it is producing the desired learning opportunities and how the site supports a positive learning environment for students. Reflect on your own practices as a faculty member to ensure engagement in fair behavior and reduce implicit bias. 

Clinical and school placements are essential components of our students’ learning. Attention to these promising practices may support the success of these placements and the success of all our students as they transition from student to professional.