In addition to the Personality tree, the exercise can be scaled down and simplified using a different metaphor (for example a rose), having students add what they perceive as their strengths (i.e. planning, creativity, punctuality) as the petals and their challenges (i.e. stubbornness, procrastination etc) as the thorns.
This activity can be used to start of any group project where students are asked to collaborate on something, and can be used as a starting point for a conversation about how the group is going to collaborate, what rules and agreements they will follow during the project (for example; “Now we know that some of us have the tendency to procrastinate, we will have daily WhatsApp contact to update each other on our work”).
See also this video below (meant for students) on Learning to Collaborate at VU Amsterdam:
Mixed Classroom phase?
Phase 1: SensitizingMixed Classroom strategies?
Establish ground rules for interaction and discussionInduction of identities
Exploring own frame of reference
For which total group size?
More than one hundredBetween fifty and one hundred
Up to fifty
Up to twenty five
How to execute: Individual or in groups?
IndividualSmall group (2-4 pers)