Brainwolk in teaching and learning
In the course “Psychology in Human-Technology Interaction”, we have done Brainwolk walking meetings for ten years already. The week with the topics “emotion and creativity” includes this walking activity. In practice, the activity is informed for the students one week in advance, with the hints of proper shoes and clothes. There is a plan B of making the task indoors, if it happened to rain or so. We started the weekly exercise session with a short introduction to Brainwolk walking meeting method, and also the topics to be discussed (related to the week’s theme emotion) were mentioned. And Vamos, soon we were already heading outdoors from Tietotalo main doors, walked through the yard to the outdoor gym (which was the first stop and wrap up point, and the point to change the discussion topic). At this point, I asked from students if they want to head back to the classroom or walk a bit longer. “Longer!”, was the response from everyone’s mouth. So we continued and discussed the next topic etc. After the Brainwolk, the adjectives heard were mainly: “refreshing”, “beautiful”, “fresh”. The best thing was that we did it again in the afternoon with the second group. Brainwolk – no technology, just nature, humans, human intelligence and walking.
Brainwolk with colleagues
Today I already got the next opportunity. And the perfect weather continued. I was invited to TAMK’s Sustainability week event to introduce and facilitate Brainwolk. This activity is also part of Students on the Move project and network, which aims at promoting physical activity during the learning and teaching. Actually, my favorite topic in this world 😊 So, from the main doors of TAMK campus, we headed towards Siirtolapuutarha area (I really don’t know what it is in English, but it’s nearby place from TAMK). What a beautiful and quiet area to walk! We walked through the narrow paths and saw cute cottages and gardens, and it was completely calm and quiet. We discussed about walking meetings. For example, if people had done walking meetings before, what tasks they are suitable for (and for what not), and what effects they observed on themselves after the walk. Super good feeling after the Brainwolk, and a great route for further walking meetings was spotted!
Written by Aino Ahtinen, Brainwolk guide from Tampere University
