Take 2 for Teaching and Learning - Gallery Walks: How to Get Students Moving and Learning, Together

Have you ever looked around your classroom and felt the energy dip just as you were about to begin a discussion? The same handful of students jump in, others glance at their laptops, and suddenly the “discussion” becomes a conversation between you and two or three familiar voices. The reality is that even the most enthusiastic teacher can’t will participation into being; it has to be invited through structure. 

Enter the gallery walk. 

At its core, a gallery walk is simple: students move around the room to explore ideas, prompts, or artifacts displayed at various “stations.” But simplicity shouldn’t be mistaken for superficiality. Done well, a gallery walk can transform a static classroom into a living, breathing dialogue of ideas—students debating, reflecting, questioning, and building meaning together. 

What makes a gallery walk work?

The gallery walk borrows its name and spirit from museums, where visitors wander from artifact to artifact, pausing and interpreting as they go. In class, that same rhythm can spark engagement. Students circulate between stations that might include charts, data sets, quotations, images, questions, or student work. They talk, write, and respond, building upon each other’s insights. 

This method shifts learning from a passive to an active approach. Instead of listening to an instructor, students interact with one another’s ideas, discussing and debating course content. That movement, both physical and intellectual, opens new entry points for learning. Quiet students contribute without the pressure of speaking to the whole class, groups negotiate meaning together, and everyone gets a clearer picture of how understanding develops in real time. 

Benefits of a gallery walk

Research and experience demonstrate that gallery walks energize a class and deepen learning, especially when combined with higher-order questions or complex problems. Key benefits include: 

Higher-order thinking

Well-designed prompts push students to analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information rather than just recall it. They see topics from multiple angles and develop more nuanced understandings. 

• Everyone Participates: Small-group structure ensures that every student contributes. Even quieter voices find space to share ideas, solving the problem of discussions dominated by a few. 
• Active, Social Learning: Gallery walks make learning social and student-centered. Classmates discuss ideas at each station, teaching one another and building on each other’s thoughts. (As educational theorist Lev Vygotsky noted, social interaction is essential to learning.) 
• Multiple Perspectives: As groups rotate, they encounter answers or ideas written by previous groups. This exposes them to a variety of perspectives and alternative approaches. They might debate a point someone else made or consider a new angle, which enriches understanding. 
• Movement and Engagement: Simply moving around reinvigorates a class and breaks the monotony of long sessions. Students often find it more engaging to walk around and leave notes than to remain seated. This increased engagement can lead to better focus and enthusiasm. 
• Formative Feedback: As the instructor, a gallery walk gives you a built-in chance to gauge understanding, an informal assessment opportunity. By listening in on group discussions or reading their written comments at stations, you can identify misconceptions or questions and address any confusion during the debrief at the end. 

In short, gallery walks transform the classroom into an interactive gallery of ideas. Students learn by doing and from one another, and instructors lead a lively room where learning is visible.  

How to implement a gallery walk

Running a gallery walk requires planning, but it is relatively simple. The key is to design intentional stations and set a clear rhythm for movement and reflection. 

1. Plan the stations

Decide what each station will focus on. Prompts can include open-ended questions, problems, case scenarios, data charts, images, or student work. Each should invite discussion, not a single “right” answer. 

Examples: 

• “How would this policy affect different stakeholders?” 
• “What trends stand out in this data — and why?” 
• “What does this visual suggest about the historical moment?” 
• “What’s working well in this argument? What could be strengthened?” 

Aim for four to six stations for a typical class; in large sections, consider duplicate stations to keep group size manageable.

2. Set up the room

Transform your space into an exploratory environment. Arrange clear, numbered stations and provide materials like markers, sticky notes, or shared digital documents. In online courses, each “station” can be a page, slide, or discussion thread. The goal is to make it intuitive and inviting—a subtle signal that students are stepping into a different mode of learning. 

3. Form groups and explain the process

Divide students into groups of three to five and assign starting stations. Explain the rotation pattern and time limits (five to ten minutes per station). Encourage students to read previous comments before adding their own. They might agree, offer counterpoints, or pose new questions. This creates a living dialogue at each station; one idea layered on another. Continue the rotations until every group has visited each station. 

4. Facilitate and observe

Set a timer and circulate as groups work. Rather than teaching directly, listen and pose gentle prompts: 

• “That’s an interesting take — what evidence supports it?” 
• “Do you agree with that last comment?” 

These small prompts can prompt further thought. As you circulate, note any patterns you observe, misunderstandings, creative connections, or themes to revisit later. 

5. Debrief and reflect

After all rotations, gather as a class. This debrief is where meaning crystallizes. You might ask each group to summarize what emerged at one station, highlighting key insights or tensions. Or you can guide a collective reflection: 

• What ideas came up repeatedly? 
• Which station surprised you? 
• How did seeing other groups’ work influence your thinking?

You might also use short written reflections or exit tickets (“one insight gained and one question remaining”). This helps reinforce learning and gives you valuable feedback. The debrief stage is crucial, as it brings closure to the gallery walk and ties the multiple threads of discussion back together, ensuring that the activity’s objectives were met. 

Gallery walks for peer feedback

Gallery walks are also powerful for peer feedback. Instead of a traditional peer review session, every student’s work is displayed and reviewed by multiple classmates. Students rotate through stations, leaving short comments guided by prompts such as: 

• “What’s one thing this piece does particularly well?” 
• “What’s one question you have after reading it?” 
• “What’s one suggestion for improvement?” 

Feedback can be written directly on the display or on sticky notes, emphasizing strengths and constructive suggestions. This structure ensures all work receives diverse feedback while reducing the pressure of formal presentations. 

For instructors, the benefits are twofold: students engage critically with a range of work, and they sharpen evaluative skills by articulating what makes strong writing or design. Reviewing others’ work helps them internalize quality criteria for their own projects. 

The same approach translates well online. Digital slides, shared folders, or discussion boards can serve as virtual “stations,” allowing students to rotate asynchronously. The principle of reciprocal, constructive critique remains the same. 

Gallery walks for case-based learning

Gallery walks also pair well with case-based teaching in disciplines like business, education, law, and public health. Instead of one large group discussion, each station presents a different scenario or perspective. 

In a public health class, for instance: 

• Station 1: An outbreak in a small town 
• Station 2: A healthcare policy dilemma 
• Station 3: A medical ethics case 

Each group discusses and records its approach, then rotates to see previous responses and add new insights or counterarguments. By the end, students have engaged with several cases and can compare approaches during the debrief. 

Another version focuses on multiple perspectives within a single case. Imagine a business scenario: a corporation plans to open a new facility in town. Each station represents a stakeholder — the mayor, a small business owner, a resident, a job seeker, and a school principal. At each stop, students consider the benefits and drawbacks from that stakeholder’s viewpoint. They must step into different roles, sparking empathy and multi-layered analysis. 

By the end, students see how perspectives intersect and how context shapes decision-making — skills that transfer directly to real-world reasoning. 

Tips for a smooth and successful gallery walk

Even seasoned faculty find that a few small details make all the difference. 

• Start small. Try a 20-minute gallery walk before devoting a full class session. This lets you gauge timing and student comfort. Think about what exactly you want students to do at each stop 
• Design for Conversation. Write questions that require reasoning or perspective-taking, not just recall. Inform students whether they should write something at each station or simply discuss; setting this expectation upfront avoids confusion. 
• Assign roles. Within each group, consider assigning roles. You might have a recorder, a timekeeper, and a spokesperson. It keeps everyone involved and holds each member accountable. 
• Use the space creatively. You don’t need an extravagant setup. Use whatever space you have; hallways can become an extension of your classroom if you tape a poster out there. Spread stations out enough that groups won’t be on top of each other.
• Manage time (but say flexible). Decide on a time limit for each station and broadcast it (you can use a projected timer or call out warnings like “One minute left!”). The urgency keeps groups on task. That said, be prepared to adjust if you notice that most groups need more time for a particularly complex question. Conversely, if a station is done early, you can prompt groups with an extra question or have them write a “star” next to the most important point they see. 
• Encourage interaction, not competition. Remind students to build on others’ ideas, and that this is about constructive dialogue. Adding stars, checkmarks, or “what if” comments to keep the dialogue collegial and make everyone more comfortable sharing. 
• Always debrief. Always budget a few minutes at the end to bring the class back together. You can highlight a few significant points you observed during the rotations and address any misconceptions that popped up (for example, “I noticed a few groups had trouble with Station 4’s graph – let’s clarify that now”). Encouraging students to reflect on the process (“How did discussing in this format help your understanding?”) can reinforce the value of the activity. 

And yes, expect a little chaos. The hum of conversation, the shuffle of movement, and the occasional laughter are all signs that students are thinking together. It’s a less controlled classroom soundscape, but far more alive. 

Conclusion

In higher education, we often discuss active learning, but the term can sometimes feel abstract. A gallery walk embodies this: a structure that invites curiosity, conversation, and collective sense-making. It requires minimal technology, little cost, and works in nearly any discipline. 

More importantly, it honors the idea that learning is both intellectual and social. Students need moments to move, speak, listen, and see how their peers think. In a gallery walk, the instructor’s expertise frames the experience, but the students’ ideas animate it. 

In an era when attention is fragmented and many classes still struggle to break free from the passive lecture model, gallery walks remind us of something simple yet powerful: learning happens best when students are engaged in active learning, not just listening. 

So, the next time your classroom energy feels a little flat, consider turning it into a gallery. Tape a few prompts to the wall, pass out some markers, and invite your students to walk, talk, and learn from each other. Chances are, you’ll rediscover the joy of seeing your students not just absorb knowledge but build it, together. 

References

Alber, R. (2016, December 2016). Enliven class discussions with gallery walks. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/enliven-class-discussion-with-gallery-walks-rebecca-alber 

Carleton College, Science Education Resource Center (SERC). (n.d.). Gallery walk: Teaching with discussions. In Starting point—Teaching entry level geoscience. https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/gallerywalk/index.html 

Gonzalez, J. (2015, November 15). The big list of class discussion strategies. Cult of Pedagogy. https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/speaking-listening-techniques/ 

Metropolitan State University of Denver. (n.d.). Gallery walks for structured small group discussions. https://sites.msudenver.edu/sips/sip-3-3-gallery-walks/ 

Penn State University. (n.d.). Gallery walk. In Pedagogical practices: Active learning methods. https://sites.psu.edu/pedagogicalpractices/gallery-walk/