Practice-Oriented Paper
Strategies for Breakout Rooms:
Suggestions from Emergency Online
Learning at a Japanese Private
University
Cecilia Smith Fujishima, Adrienne Johnson
Shirayuri University, Tokyo
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many universities suddenly shifted onlinefrom the 2020-2021 school year. While the technological tools utilized depended on
the situation, many universities turned to Zoom as a viable real-time online learning
solution. One particular benefit of the Zoom service compared to others (at the time) was
the breakout room functionality, which could serve to simulate classroom group work.
However, the breakout rooms also brought about novel challenges. This paper thus presents
strategies the authors have found useful in managing breakout rooms, based on studentcentered data collected during a year of emergency online learning in English medium
content courses. The writers recommend the following practical strategies to improve
breakout room classroom practice: (1) make student feedback integral classroom practice,(2) develop strategies to promote English use in breakout rooms, (3) assign roles to allocate
responsibility, (4) provide clear instructions for breakout room tasks, (5) build confidence
through scaffolding, and (6) allocate groups mindfully.

COVID-19 presented new challenges to teaching and learning as virtual
classrooms replaced physical classrooms across Japan. Even in the usual, oncampus setting, teaching group work oriented, mixed level, and mixed year
group English Medium Instruction (EMI) classes is challenging. For these classes
to be effective, teachers need to consider classroom management, interpersonal
dynamics, and English use in addition to the class contents. With the shift toonline learning, the use of Zoom breakout rooms added new challenges as
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students were unable to be monitored directly by a teacher who could intervene
to support when difficulties arose. Students reported difficulties with online
group work; the research underpinning this study aimed to better understand
students’ situations in order to devise strategies to enable them to thrive.
The context of this study is a small private women’s liberal arts university
in Tokyo that had not used Zoom or Google Classroom prior to the 2020
emergency online learning period. When Zoom and Google Classroom wereintroduced as tools, the authors prepared the department for online learningand conducted numerous training sessions for students and faculty. This wasan emergency situation, with faculty teaching themselves as they went. In thiscontext, the authors decided to gather student experiences to understand online
learning from their perspective. This paper reports on the authors’ findings for
successful online group learning, and details the improvements implemented
specifically through the Zoom breakout room functionality. The goal is toprovide educators with strategies to enact whenever learning shifts online, andintroduce a communicative approach to guide a response to any sudden change.
Our study uses extensive data collected through exit cards in a relatively
intimate teaching environment. Many students who provided feedback were in
the authors’ seminar classes, and took part in the initial online-learning pilot tests
in the department. The students’ role as our co-learners from the outset created ahigh-trust, high-communication learning environment. This contributed to theopenness in students’ comments in the exit cards and the richness of the data
has enabled the authors to provide concrete strategies for breakout rooms in theJapanese higher-education context.

Methods

The study draws on methodology outlined by Kleining and Witt (2001), andtakes an exploratory approach to understanding students’ online learning
experience. Research began after both authors noticed students experiencing
difficulties in online learning, and was conducted in the second semester of 2020
through weekly reflection surveys (exit cards) distributed via Google Classroom
in six EMI courses. Over the course of a fifteen-week semester, from the six classes,
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the author-researchers read more than five hundred exit cards each.
On the exit cards, students freely answered two open questions from a list.
For example, “What went well in today’s class?” and “What would you like toimprove for next time?” Exit cards also included an optional “free talk” section.
The cards were assigned as participation work to be completed after class, andsubmitted three to four days after class. Exit cards provided a regular opportunity
for students, who were isolated during the online period, to communicate
directly with a full-time teacher, and enabled the authors to identify problems
and work with students to implement interventions. Solutions took the form ofboth personalized advice and changes to teaching practice.

Problems & Interventions

The authors responded to every exit card. Comments provided validation,affirmation, encouragement, reinforcement, confirmation, advice, and assistancewith problem-solving. Feedback motivated students to put effort into writing
their exit cards. This section outlines student comments, feedback, andinterventions that were made to improve the effectiveness of breakout sessions.
The categories used for analysis—classroom management, interpersonal issues,and English level—were determined heuristically in response to issues that wereraised with high frequency in the exit cards.
Classroom Management: Problems
There are fundamental differences in classroom management online with breakout
rooms compared to face-to-face classrooms. Once students enter a breakout
room, the teacher no longer has the same capacity to monitor the dynamics ofthe class as a whole, or determine whether students are on-task or struggling.
Exit cards provided a window into the breakout rooms. Some students reported
difficulty with time management in breakout groups: “My group was slow. So,
we couldn’t finish to discuss.” In other cases students struggled to understandinstructions: “I and my classmates didn't understand the problem sentence of theassignment and answered it differently.”34

Strategies for Breakout Rooms, OCJSI 4, pages 32-44

Classroom Management: Interventions
In a breakout room, students do not have ready access to a teacher, so it was
important that students went into breakout rooms confident that they knew
what to do. Stanford University’s Teaching Commons also found a need for clear
explanation and goal setting for successful breakout room practice (Stanford
University Teaching Commons, n.d.). Strategies to improve the flow of classincluded reinforcing instructions in writing, such as in welcome screens displayed
at the beginning of class (see Appendix) and the chat box. Clear time frames fortasks also enabled students to manage time more effectively. Similar to a face-toface classroom, numbering and having students repeat back instructions before
going into the breakout room helped to keep students on task. Using a single
shared Jamboard or Google document in Google Classroom helped students towork on the same tasks simultaneously, see how others were progressing whilein the breakout room, and present ideas to the class after returning to the main
room.
Interpersonal Issues: Problems
Interpersonal issues in breakout rooms were an issue for many students. Students
expressed a wish to have opportunities to socialize:“I would like to make a good environment to study with group members. In
addition, when we meet for the first time, I would like to talk about not onlyclass assignments but also hobbies etc.”
McMurtrie has similarly found a need for connection between students for
successful breakout room sessions (McMurtrie, 2020). Students also expressed
concern about difficulties with communicating with unfamiliar people,
particularly seniors, in breakout rooms:“In normal compulsory classes, almost all classmates are students in thesame year-group but, in this class, there are a lot of senpai. I’m not good atcommunicating with older people. So, I didn’t talk actively when compared
to compulsory classes.”
Because breakout groups require students to exchange ideas and cooperate
in isolation, students need to have confidence in expressing themselves and35

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managing group dynamics. This could be challenging, even when students were
working with classmates in the same year group:“Today there were no senpai. So someone or everyone has to cohere groupmembers. But no one was likely to cohere the room members. So, I did. If
there is senpai in the breakout room, always the senpai cohere group. I don’t
like obtrusiveness. So that was difficult.”
Difficulties in breakout room group work were also connected to language
ability and effort. Sometimes students were frustrated by their own lack oflanguage: “I have a lack of explaining correctly. I want to express simply andeasily, but I don’t have enough vocabulary…” Students also sometimes expressed
frustration with the lack of effort of other students in their breakout room; exit
cards showed that being in a group with unprepared members causes frustrationand demotivation.
Interpersonal Issues: Interventions
Awareness of students’ frustrations was used to better allocate groups, implement
improvement strategies, and adjust assignments. It should be noted the authors
have a zero-tolerance policy for bullying, and strongly emphasize cooperation inclasses. We did not judge students who criticized classmates’ actions, nor penalize
students on the basis of content written by others. Honest communication inexit cards was essential in order to improve the learning environment. In responseto students' comments about lacking opportunities to get to know classmates,
the instructors allocated time at the beginning of group work for students tointroduce themselves. In the absence of normal campus life, this enabled students
to make connections with each other. Students were informed that allocatingtime for introductions was a response to their comments. Students were also
encouraged to spend free time, e.g. after completing tasks, practicing English
conversation with assigned conversation prompts.
A number of interventions were introduced to address interpersonal issues
within groups, including scaffolding more effective group work and discussion
strategies. Steps taken included giving reassurance and advice when students
raised issues in exit cards, having students submit homework before class, and36

Strategies for Breakout Rooms, OCJSI 4, pages 32-44

allocating groups mindfully. These strategies helped to address the mixed levelsin the classes, which usually included a range of students with levels from
CEFR A2 to B2. When students complained that classmates were unpreparedand could not participate well, the teacher’s written response on the exit card
validated their frustration but encouraged them to be patient and use it as anopportunity for leadership. The teacher also encouraged students to recognizethat there were four people in the breakout group and to persevere even if one
member could not fully participate. In terms of classroom intervention, students
with lower English placement test scores were allocated to groups with moremembers. Students who had not done their homework were put together towork through the homework. This approach benefited both groups of students.
Those who prepared could exchange perspectives on the content and remain
motivated; those who had not could work on the material together, and were
integrated back into the class for new tasks. Grouping unprepared students also
provided an opportunity for teachers to talk individually to students who may
have been struggling.
Another intervention was the assignment of group “captains,” or “leaders,”
each responsible for particular tasks. This followed principles outlined by Smith(1996) of including individual accountability within the group. For each class,group members would be assigned a role which put them in charge of one aspectof the group: “English captain,” who encouraged using English; “Technology
captain,” who shared their screen, navigated Google Classroom, etc.; “Question/
Participation captain,” who made sure that everyone shared ideas; potentially,“Reporting captain,” who reported back to the main session; and “Dictionary
captain,” who looked up new vocabulary. The authors enacted strategic allocationof tasks among members to facilitate productive and positive group dynamics.
Students responded to this intervention enthusiastically:“I thought it was good everyone had a role!”“I thought the captain system was so good, because it's equality.”
Many also began to frame their success specifically in terms of their “captain”
role:“Today, I could use and speak English more than last week because I had to37

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play each role. English leader was especially difficult for me, but it was a goodtime to communicate with classmates well.”“...something that went well in today’s class is playing a role as an English
captain.”This was not always perfectly successful—students were overheard in
breakout room observation asking group mates what captain they had been
assigned, for example. However, instituting this type of responsibility assignment
system has great potential for solving many problems with group work both inbreakout rooms and, potentially, in face-to-face classrooms.
English Use & Level: Problems
All classes included students with mixed English levels, with ranges that spanned
from CEFR A2-B2 (elementary to upper intermediate). Students expressed
concern about differences in English levels and attitudes towards using English
positively. For example: “I couldn’t tell my opinion in English” and “I don’t
have enough vocabulary.” Some students requested that teachers be strict about
English usage: “I think it would be better if you emphasize using strong words
such as ‘Use only English’”. Additionally, sometimes students devised their own
solutions to problems and difficulties that they were facing: “So today I tried tosay, “Good morning!” earlier than anybody. And it worked well for everyone touse English actively! I want to keep continuing that.” Where students reported
success, we adopted their strategies for the class.
English Use & Level: Interventions
There were three main interventions to help students overcome inadequate
English and differences in English level. One was to emphasize and be strict
about students preparing well for the class so that they could exchange ideas oncomplex topics, regardless of on-the-spot English ability. Students who do notprepare demotivate other students, and can be put in their own group to do thework with others and catch up. This policy resulted in most students preparing
well. In addition, based on students’ advice, the teachers established a custom ofassigning a student to begin the breakout session with an English greeting. Oncethe conversation began in English, it helped to keep the conversation in English.
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The third was to provide useful English vocabulary and phrases in an online
English vocabulary list. In addition to usual group work/discussion phrases
like “What do you think?” and “I agree with your opinion, but ….”, the authors
provided students with vocabulary and expressions specifically pertaining toonline learning to facilitate breakout room communication, such as “Could I
share my screen?” (see Appendix).

Student Successes

As the semester progressed, students reported gaining confidence in their ability
to learn well in class, and the exit cards provided an opportunity for them toreflect on their success in the breakout rooms. This was true for almost every
student. Opportunities to engage in reflection and dialogue seem to havecontributed to their success in online learning and in breakout rooms specifically.
This correlates with Brown’s emphasis on the importance of reflection time forlearners, particularly in an online setting (Brown, 2020). Comments reflectedstudents’ awareness of improvement in language, knowledge, and understanding,as well as in group work and social skills. For example, in week 9, one student
commented on improvement in her ability to use English in the breakout room:“I’m able to give some comments when other people finish speaking now.
Before, I could only say like “I think so” or “I agree with you”, but these days
I’m able to give some feedback like “So you think \~ right?” “I’m not surethat \~, so could you tell me more, please?” even when the members are theseniors.”
Students understood that good preparation leads to a better discussion inbreakout rooms:“I realized it’s important to do prep work because in the past class somestudents said that ‘I couldn’t understand this question well, so I can’t answer.’
However, this week seems everyone did great.”Moreover, the greater ability to exchange ideas led to deeper learning:“Thanks to everyone's many opinions, I learned a lot. I think that many people
can learn more if everyone can speak without fear of their own opinions.”
Students reported success with using English, even though there was no teacher
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Fujishima & Johnsonmonitoring: “Thanks to you making one student watch if the students were using
English, there was a good atmosphere to use English in our breakout room.” Theenvironment in breakout rooms stimulated students’ learning and increased
both confidence and motivation: “My group shared a screen and it was easier totalk and discuss today's topic. Even though it took time to do the tasks, my group
could finish most questions. We were really striving to solve each question.”

Recommendations

The 2020 teaching environment had exceptional challenges. Although collecting
data and providing feedback was time-consuming, exit cards were invaluable forengaging students as learning partners and as prompts for informing teachingpractices. They were particularly suitable for devising effective breakout sessions.
Based on this research, the authors propose the following strategies for breakout
rooms. These strategies can be combined and adjusted as necessary dependingon the needs of the classroom, and may also be applied to regular classrooms
utilizing group work and discussion.
1. Make student feedback an integral part of classroom practice• Provide students with regular chances to communicate directly with andget feedback from a teacher, such as through exit cards• Exit cards need not be after every class, nor compulsory• Provide prompts and choices so students can choose relevant questions• Include a “free talk” section on exit cards so students can communicate
more generally• Particularly appropriate for classes where the teacher is the students'
advisor• Provide end-of-semester opportunities for students to reflect on
difficulties, achievements, and goals
2. Provide feedback to students• Feedback can take many forms, including validation, encouragement,
advice, further information, and questions.
• Where appropriate, follow up on problems that students raise in exit
cards during class time with changes in classroom processes and practices.
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Strategies for Breakout Rooms, OCJSI 4, pages 32-44• For example, telling students that "because people have reported X intheir exit cards, let's try Y today and see how it goes."• Engage students as co-learners when implementing interventions.
• Establish routines for students to get to know each other.
• Allocate time for introductions at the start of breakout room sessions• Vary group members each week
• Encourage students to use free time to engage with one another, e.g.,using conversation questions
3. Devise strategies that help students use English in breakout rooms• Examples include:• Assigning students to start with English greetings and introductions• Providing online learning classroom language sheets to enable
students to communicate effectively in English online• Examples include:
a. My Wi-Fi connection is having trouble.
b. Would you like me to share my screen?
c. You're muted.
• See Appendix for an example created by one of the authors.
4. Facilitate group work by assigning roles• - Roles can be adjusted based on the number of students.
• Example roles:• English captain• Question captain• Technology captain• Reporting captain• Dictionary captain
5. Provide Clear Instructions and Explanation• Utilize “Welcome Screens” to reinforce instructions textually, give an
outline of the flow of the class, and time allotted for each task
• Share "Welcome Screens" within the LMS, so students can doublecheck after joining breakout rooms• "Welcome Screens" can also contain technological support, Zoom
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usage guidelines, etc. (See Appendix)• Number instructions• Confirm understanding of instructions by getting the students to repeatthem• Use a shared medium (e.g. Jamboard or Google Docs) where all students
can write in the same document while in breakout rooms
6. Build confidence through scaffolded tasks in breakout rooms• Give time to prepare answers, including assigning homework tasks• Check answers in breakout groups• Provide opportunities to give answers prepared in breakout rooms in themain session
7. Allocate groups mindfully• Take note of difficulties and adjust group allocation accordingly• Discuss the need for cooperation with older, responsible students• Group students who did not complete homework together andreemphasize reasoning beforehand• Check in with students who did not complete homework

Conclusion

While many challenges are involved in real-time online learning through Zoom,
utilizing the above breakout room strategies can help alleviate problems withclassroom management, interpersonal issues, and English, while helping students
to maintain high levels of learning efficacy.
The volume of data collected in this research was invaluable during
emergency online learning; however, it has also been unsustainably time
consuming. Future research is needed to determine more time and energy
efficient methods of feedback that maintain both intimacy and functionality forstudents and teachers. Presently, the authors are experimenting with a Google
Forms replacement for the exit card feedback system, which shifts the emphasis
from qualitative analysis to quantitative self-reporting on achieving outcomes.
In doing so, the authors hope to remain informed about student perception in amore sustainable way.
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References

Brown, J. (2020, November 10). 5 Best practices for managing virtual breakout
rooms. EdTech. https://edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2020/11/5-bestpractices-managing-virtual-breakout-rooms
Kleining, G., & Witt, H. (2001). Discovery as basic methodology of qualitativeand quantitative research. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum:
Qualitative Social Research, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-2.1.977
McMurtrie, B. (2020, December 10). How to make breakout rooms work
better. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/
newsletter/teaching/2020-12-10
Smith, K. A. (1996). Cooperative learning: Making “groupwork” work. New
Directions for Teaching and Learning, 1996(67), 71–82. https://doi.
org/10.1002/tl.37219966709
University Teaching Commons. (n.d.). Successful breakout rooms in Zoom.
Stanford Teaching Commons. https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/
news/successful-breakout-rooms-zoom

Author bios

Cecilia Smith Fujishima is a full-time lecturer in the International Society andCulture section of the Department of English Language and Literature at Shirayuri
University in Tokyo. She has an MA in Global Studies from Sophia University and a
Cambridge CELTA. She has taught history, social science and English in Australia,
China, Thailand and Japan. She has a strong interest in content and language
integrated learning and using the power of cooperative learning to make complex
concepts accessible for students with a wide range of English levels. fujishima@shirayuri.ac.jp
Adrienne Johnson is a full-time lecturer in the International Society and Culture
section in the Department of English Language and Literature at Shirayuri
University in Tokyo and a PhD Candidate in the Graduate School of Interdisciplinary
Information Studies at the University of Tokyo. She specializes in gender, media,
and cultural studies, and has published on Japanese subcultural practices as well as
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pedagogical subjects. She has experience teaching both English language and content
courses in English, and has a particular interest in women’s education and the active
promotion of gender equality. johnson@shirayuri.ac.jp
Received: November 2, 2021
Accepted: September 27, 2022

Appendix“English Skills” Playlist -- Created by Adrienne Johnson to help students practicecommon English phrases outside of class. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis
t=PL7cTvIcwIHkPpoAvOkSi0m8ryIHHVsTMi
Example Welcome Screen — From Adrienne Johnson’s Introductory Seminar
Class. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MxEZhzxZRDX9SErjVwW7XN1Y1afIQq J/view?usp=sharing

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