Role-playing exercises offer a unique way of learning
material: they require a high amount of imagination and communicating skills
that are useful in any discipline. Dr. Leah Olson-McBride, Department of Social
Work, shares how she uses Role-Playing exercises in her class:
One thing I’ve started
doing in my Groups and Families class—a class where we teach the students how
to be social workers with groups and family units—is a fishbowl activity, where
students will actually role-play and act out a scenario. In the middle of the
class, after teaching specific techniques regarding the upcoming scenario, I
put up a case study on the screen and pull some students from the class to live
out the situation. One person will play the social worker, other students will
be the family, etc. After the performance, the class will give feedback on what
the social worker did well, and what they could improve upon. Students seem to
be really anxious about participating, but always give good feedback on it. A
common response I’ll get is: “I was really nervous being chosen, but I’m really
glad I got to do it.” If it’s really hard content, sometimes I’ll have them
show me the worst way to do it first: it takes the pressure off performing
perfectly, and, of course, the students think it’s really funny.
Role-playing can actually be applied to nearly every
discipline: view creative examples and types of role-playing exercises at
Carleton’s teaching website here.
Interview by: Jon Pumper
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