--- title: "Third Degree" description: "Small groups rapidly quiz one member at a time on assigned reading material while that person answers without notes. Turns rotate until everyone has had a turn or passed, followed by peer scoring." last_updated: "2026-09-07" canonical: "https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/third-degree/" --- # Third Degree Small groups rapidly quiz one member at a time on assigned reading material while that person answers without notes. Turns rotate until everyone has had a turn or passed, followed by peer scoring. **Time:** 15 minutes. UWT adaptation of Thiagi's rapid questioning rounds, peer scoring, and debrief to fit a 15-minute slot. **People:** 4 to 24. Small groups of 4 to 6 people (or a single group of 3 to 7 if participant totals require it, such as 7 people forming one pod or two pods of 3 and 4). Up to 5 people per pod take 90-second hot-seat turns. ## Choose this exercise **Purpose:** Check comprehension and recall of key points from a reading assignment under rapid time-boxed questioning. **Use it when:** Use after participants complete a required reading, technical brief, or job aid and need an energetic recall check. **Skip it when:** Skip when psychological safety is low, when the reading contains highly nuanced or sensitive material requiring slow reflection, or when speed pressure causes distress. ## Materials and tools - One copy of the target reading handout or job aid per person - Small slips of scratch paper (approx. 5 per person) for scoring - Pens or pencils (1 per person) - One central timer or stopwatch for the facilitator ## Before participants arrive 1. Distribute the reading assignment in advance or allot quiet reading time before starting the clock. 2. Arrange tables or seating into pods of 4 to 6 people (or 3 to 7 if numbers dictate). 3. Place scratch paper slips and pens on each table. ## Say this to open We are going to check our grasp of the reading with a rapid review called Third Degree. In your groups, one person takes the hot seat for 90 seconds. Everyone else acts as inquisitors, asking questions drawn directly from the text. Inquisitors may consult notes; the person in the hot seat answers from memory. Questions do not need to follow polite order. If you prefer not to take the hot seat, you may act as a dedicated inquisitor and scribe. ## How to run it ### 1. Form groups and assign roles (2 minutes) Form groups of 4 to 6 people (use a group of 3 or 7 if the room count requires it). In groups of 6 or 7, one or two members serve as dedicated inquisitors and scribes, keeping hot-seat turns capped at five. In any group, anyone who opts out of the hot seat acts as an inquisitor or scribe. Identify the first hot-seat participant by nearest birthday. That person sets their handout face down while inquisitors keep handouts open. ### 2. Run questioning rounds (8 minutes) Start the central timer. For 90 seconds, inquisitors fire questions at the hot-seat participant, who answers without notes. Inquisitors do not need to wait for full answers before asking another question. Facilitator calls time at 90 seconds; groups take 10 seconds to rotate the hot seat to the next person. Run 5 rounds of 90 seconds. Anyone who prefers not to take the hot seat passes their turn to the next participant. ### 3. Distribute peer points (2 minutes) Each person takes slips of scratch paper and distributes a total of 100 points among their other group members based on their performance answering or asking questions. Do not award points to yourself. Write point values on folded slips and pass them face down to the recipients. Participants open their slips and tally their received points to find the highest total in each pod. ### 4. Debrief key takeaways (3 minutes) Bring the whole room together. Ask: 'Which concepts or facts from the handout were easiest to recall under pressure, and why?' Then ask: 'What question stumped you or your team that we should clarify right now?' Take 2 or 3 quick comments from volunteers across the room to clarify any facts that remained unclear. ## Debrief questions - Which concepts or facts from the handout were easiest to recall under pressure, and why? - What question stumped you or your team that we should clarify right now? **Finished output:** A list of identified gaps or difficult concepts in the text and individual peer score tallies. ## Remote Place participants in breakout rooms of 4 to 6. The person in the hot seat minimizes their document window or turns away from notes while others keep reference documents visible. For scoring, participants send private direct messages to teammates containing their point awards, summing to 100 points across other members, or send them to a room scribe who tallies them on a shared document. ## Hybrid Keep in-person pods and remote pods separate so rapid cross-talk works without audio feedback. Remote groups distribute points via private chat while in-person groups use folded paper slips. ## Access and participation choices - Anyone may opt out of the hot seat and serve as a dedicated inquisitor, scribe, or group observer without penalty or disclosure. - Participants may refer to notes if rapid memory retrieval without aids is inaccessible for them. ## If the session gets stuck **Inquisitors are hesitant to interrupt or ask tough questions.** Remind groups that rapid questions help discover what sticks and that the fast pace is part of the drill. **A participant freezes and looks distressed in the hot seat.** Remind everyone that passing on any question is allowed, or offer that the participant can switch to an inquisitor role immediately. ## Terms used here - Read.me game: A training game designed to reinforce comprehension of an assigned text or handout. ## Sources and adaptation Observed in The Thiagi Group materials (copyright 1997, 1999 Sivasailam Thiagarajan), published as a 'read.me game' under the title 'Third Degree'. Retained Sivasailam Thiagarajan's core mechanic of rapid, out-of-order questioning of a single participant without notes, rotating turns, and the 100-point peer scoring method distributed among other players. UWT adjusted round timing to 90 seconds across 5 rounds to fit 15 minutes, allowed group sizes from 3 to 7 to handle odd room counts, capped hot-seat rounds at 5 per group with dedicated inquisitor and scribe roles for remaining participants, added explicit opt-out options, and supplied remote and hybrid guidance. [The Thiagi Group](https://thiagi.net/archive/www/game-3rd.html) [The Thiagi Group](http://thiagi.net/archive/www/game-3rd.html) Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/third-degree/