Role-Playing: A Smorgasbord of Learning Types

Abstract

One tertiary institution sought to research the perceptions that tertiary students have of role-plays as a means of learning. Role-plays were used across a range of disciplines at that institution including: teacher training, business and chemistry. Each of these disciplines used a role-play in their classes and then collected opinions from the students on the usefulness of the activity. It was discovered that students value role-plays as a means to challenge preconceived ideas, encourage creative thinking, assist students in applying theory to practice, make lessons fun and provide active learning experiences that increase student learning and engagement.