Affinity Mapping involves organising ideas generated in a brainstorming session into theme groups. Responding to a prompt, students brainstorm ideas, writing each idea on a separate sticky note. They then move the sticky notes into groups with other related ideas.
Instructions
- Provide students with a broad question or problem statement as a prompt.
- Give students time to write their ideas on sticky notes and place them on a communal surface.
- Instruct the students to look over the notes and group them by relatedness.
- Discuss the groups as a class, thinking about what is in each group and why and giving each of the groups a title.
Resources
- Sticky notes and pens, or an educational technology resource such as Miro
Variations
- Make it a small group activity: Students could work in multiple small groups, instead of together as a class.
- Provide some categories to get started: Identify some key categories and provide them at the start of the activity. Students can add their thoughts into these categories and create new categories as needed.