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Conducting Role-Plays

• Engaging Students
• updated on September 7, 2023

Setup: Helping Students Prepare for Role-Play

Action: conducting the role-play, debrief: discussing the role-play, tips for virtual role-plays.

Role-plays can be built into a teaching plan with pre-assigned roles and advance student preparation, or they can be used spontaneously in response to a specific comment or class discussion. In either case, role-plays typically require a setup, action, and debrief . 

Here are some strategies you might use to carry out these three components of a role-play.

Lowering the stakes for taking risks

Role-play activities can be daunting for students. Give students an opportunity to share questions or concerns and to establish community agreements for participation to help them feel more prepared to take risks. If tensions or difficulties arise later in the course, it can be helpful to refer back to the ideas volunteered and discussed by students. Read more about establishing norms with your students in the Playbook for Teaching .

Helping students prepare their roles

For role-plays that are planned in advance, distribute detailed instructions and role documents via Canvas or in class . You can share these before class, or you can upload them to Canvas and wait to publish them until class time. You can send messages and files to specific students if you need to keep the documents or details private to certain students for purposes of the role-play.

For spontaneous role-plays, you can give instructions to the whole class, or break students into groups and provide instructions to each group or individual privately.

Consider one of the following approaches for conducting the role-play:

• Select or take a volunteer group of students to conduct the role-play while the rest of the class observes.
• Students conduct the role-plays in small groups and then the class debriefs together.
• Students conduct the role-plays outside of class. Consider how you will follow up with students after the role-play, such as debriefing in class, submitting a short written reflection, or recording the role-play to submit via Canvas. Recording the role-play may also allow you to select portions to highlight in class.

You might debrief the role-play as a whole class, using discussion prompts like:

• “How realistic was the interaction?”
• “What was surprising?”
• “Why did you say/do ____?”
• “What would you have done differently?”
• “What makes this kind of interaction so hard?”

You may choose to have students begin their discussion in small groups , either in their role-play groups or in new groupings. Then, move into whole-class discussion to compare findings and summarize the role-play’s main takeaways.

If you’re teaching a large class, you might also use discussion tools to solicit input broadly and quickly. For example, have students simultaneously input answers to questions in a Google doc or conduct a live poll where students can submit answers, comments, or upvote peers’ observations. 

• Setup : Distribute instructions in a way that allows students to easily access the information if they unexpectedly lose their connection to the Zoom meeting or when in a Zoom breakout room, such as by posting instructions on Canvas or sending individual messages via Canvas, email, or Slack. Avoid posting key instructions solely in the Zoom chat.
• Action : If you’d like to select one group of students to role-play while the rest of the class observes, you can put the students in the role-play “on stage” using Zoom’s Spotlight video feature.
• Action : If students are conducting role-plays in small groups during class, use Zoom’s breakout room feature. Make sure to distribute clear instructions and timeframes before sending students into breakout rooms.

Unless otherwise noted, you may copy and redistribute this resource in its unmodified form under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license (attribution, non-commercial, no-derivatives).

Role Play in Therapy: 21 Scripts & Examples for Your Session

It is a technique that doesn’t require any costumes or makeup, and it is a valuable technique for students learning about mental health and psychotherapy, since it is a powerful tool in the treatment itself (Rønning & Bjørkly, 2019).

Role-playing scripts can be particularly helpful with reticent clients, replacing more traditional talk therapy techniques when individuals feel guarded or suspicious.

It is also a helpful and relatively nonthreatening approach that can assess, intervene, and engage clients in therapy, especially children (Hackett, 2011).

This article explores the value of role-play as a therapeutic technique and introduces scripts, exercises, activities, and questions to help.

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This Article Contains:

How role-play works in therapy, 4 real-life psychology examples, does it work 9 proven benefits, 3 scripts and worksheets for your sessions, role-playing activities, scripts, games, & exercises, 9 techniques and questions to ask clients, a look at role-play in group therapy, best resources from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message.

“Role-playing in supervised groups seems to promote reflection and insight not only for students in the patient and therapist roles but also for peers observing the group sessions” (Rønning & Bjørkly, 2019, p. 415). Indeed, learning and practicing techniques in such a safe and controlled environment can promote competent practitioners.

For clients in therapy, role-playing scripts offer a replacement for some aspects of more typical talk therapies (Hackett, 2011).  “Role-playing has emotive, cognitive, and behavioral components” that can create disturbances that help clients change “unhealthy feelings to healthy ones” (Corey, 2013, p. 300).

When reenacting scenes from their lives, people typically become more psychologically engaged than if they were simply reporting anecdotes about themselves (Corey, 2013).

Clients can use such exercises to work through their feelings and irrational beliefs in an imagined past, present, or future situation. Children, in particular, can find it helpful as an opportunity to act out problematic behavior while providing a performance-based learning experience (Corey, 2013; Dobson, 2011).

Typical role-play includes two or more people re-enacting a specific problematic scenario–actual or imagined–sufficiently authentic to evoke an emotional reaction. For example, the therapist may play the role of parent or teacher, using words, mannerisms, and responses gathered (by systematic questioning) from the child to explore a situation (Hackett, 2011).

As a therapeutic technique, role-play offers helpful insight into how individuals view their environment and function interpersonally. For that reason, it can be particularly effective in the treatment of trauma, enabling therapist and client to revisit earlier experiences through reenactment (Hackett, 2011).

It may be helpful to move furniture around in the office to recreate the environment, for example, a family living room or work setting, to better capture how clients currently react to a situation (Nelson-Jones, 2014).

Clients can practice and improve their assertive and social techniques while learning to manage their anxiety, aggression, and other interpersonal difficulties (Hackett, 2011).

Real-life examples of role-play, modified from the literature, include:

• A student anxious about their application to graduate school feels stupid and unworthy . Role-playing an imagined interview with the college Dean uncovers the client’s specific beliefs and anxieties, challenging their thoughts about what it could mean not to be accepted (Corey, 2013).
• Client and parent, Rich typically gets excessively angry when his daughter stays out late . The therapist asks him to role-play a prior situation using the new coping skills he has learned, providing a safe opportunity to make mistakes and improve handling going forward (Nelson-Jones, 2014).
• A client consistently performed poorly in interviews for management positions. The client role-plays a future interview, with the therapist acting as the interviewer using a set of questions that could cause the client difficulty. The meeting is video recorded for later review and skills evaluation. Guided mental imagery is then used to rehearse target skills before future interviews (Nelson-Jones, 2014).
• A student has communication and confidence difficulties with their professor . The therapist teaches them assertiveness skills , then role-plays meetings with the professor to try out their newly acquired techniques (before an actual meeting). Practice helps the client manage their fears and improve their relationship with their professor (Corey, 2013).

Role-play is helpful in placing clients in safe environments for practicing difficult or distressing situations and trialing new coping skills and emotional responses (Dobson, 2011).

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Role-playing scripts have many tried-and-tested benefits (some identified anecdotally rather than research-driven) to aid the therapeutic process and improve the likelihood of positive treatment outcomes.

Potential benefits of role-play include (Nelson-Jones, 2014; Hackett, 2011; Corey, 2013):

• Providing valuable assessment opportunities to uncover how clients think and act in situations.
• Offering the chance to practice skills learned during treatment.
• Working together, therapist and client can create and try out styles and approaches for verbal and non-verbal communication .
• Practicing how to cope with a range of responses from others.
• Trialing the transfer of learned skills to real life to recognize their value while practicing overcoming obstacles.
• Benefiting skills training by providing the opportunity to practice social skills, assertiveness, and other interpersonal and communication-related skills.
• Using interruptions from therapists to create disturbances in what clients tell themselves, helping turn unhealthy beliefs into healthy ones.
• Providing the opportunity to role-play problem situations clients face in their daily lives.
• Helping to learn coping strategies to avoid impulsive and aggressive behavior, social anxiety, test fears, eating problems, and public speaking anxiety.

Introducing role-play in therapy is a skill that requires practice and focus to ensure that the client can try out their new skills and coping mechanisms. The therapist must be clear in their expectations and help the client by (Nelson-Jones, 2014):

• Explaining the reasons for role-play
• Setting the scene
• Assessing their current communication skills and behaviors
• Formulating new or changed communication skills and behaviors
• Rehearsing the new skills and behaviors
• Encouraging the client to rehearse their skills inside and outside counseling sessions .

Scripts (even partial ones) can help by focusing attention and providing the client with clarity on what is expected.

Empty chair

The empty chair (sometimes called two chairs work) experiment is one of the most widely used methods in Gestalt psychology and provides a slight twist on the idea of role-play. It “offers a voice to the client’s experience and is a way of recognizing and re-owning alienated qualities” (Joyce & Sills, 2014, p. 100).

The client is asked to imagine someone from their past or present sitting in the chair opposite. They then talk openly about how they feel as though the person were there.

A typical script might be a variation on the following:

If your husband were in the room, how close would he be sitting or standing?

Now, with your eyes closed, imagine what he is wearing. How is he sitting or standing? What expression is on his face?

Now, slowly opening your eyes, imagine looking at him, sitting (or standing) in front of you.

What emotions do you feel?

What would you like to say to him?

At this point, the therapist is likely to begin to grasp the difficulties their client has with the person, situation, or emotions. For example, they may say, “He looks stern and criticizes me.”

The therapist may offer questions such as, “ How risky would it be to tell him to stop ?”

The empty chair role-play encourages the client to think about how they feel regarding the situation and the person and try alternate ways of coping and behaving.

Unfinished business

Sometimes a client can feel stuck regarding their relationship with someone alive or dead. The client may need to stay with such feelings of discomfort or “stuckness.”

Role-play – where the therapist plays the other person – can help push the conversation further and continue without avoiding how they wish things to change (Joyce & Sills, 2014).

The therapist can temporarily halt the role-play to ask the following questions, digging deeper into the client’s thoughts and beliefs on each one (modified from Joyce & Sills, 2014):

What are you afraid will happen if you assert yourself and make demands of X?

[The client answers.]

And then what would happen?

And what then?

And what would that look like?

While the therapist should handle questioning carefully, gently nudging the client’s thought process along, pushing them to face up to realities can be powerful. Once answered, the therapist can resume role-play.

Assertive Message Role-Play

This worksheet provides a helpful script and role-play exercises to help work through issues with assertiveness at work.

Potential scenarios include:

A coworker is being rude about another coworker. Someone in the office comes to you and wants to gossip about your friend. Your coworker won’t return your calls. A coworker is taking personal phone calls in your area and talking about very personal issues you prefer not to hear.

CBT role-play – depressive symptoms and lack of motivation

Activities and games can enhance the effectiveness of role-play and provide new opportunities to explore client thinking, feelings, behaviors, and learned skills (Mann, 2010).

Top dog–underdog

When the therapist notices clients are holding two opposing (and sometimes extreme) opinions or attitudes, it’s helpful to ask them to play each one in a role-play.

The client plays top dog , demanding that everything is done their way, and then underdog , where they play the disobedient, rebellious self who doesn’t do as told.

For example (modified from Mann, 2010):

Top dog: I need to get down to the gym and get in shape . Underdog: Who cares! I want to grab a burger and have a lazy day !

Aha experience

In this variation of the two chairs exercise, the aim is to help the client experience a moment of insight (Mann, 2010).

“The ‘Aha’ experience can be facilitated through experimentation” (Mann, 2010, p. 222). For example, suppose a client is stuck deciding whether to take a new job. In that case, they move to the other seat, representing their new position (literally and emotionally), to comment from that place. They can role-play the impact of inaction and action from both positions and see how it feels, how they think, and the effect on their potential behavior.

Intellectual–emotional role

When other techniques cannot help a client become unstuck, the following Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy role-play can be helpful (Beck, 2011).

In an existing or imagined situation, the client is asked first to play the role of their emotional self. They act and behave according to their dysfunctional or unhelpful beliefs. Next, they approach the same situation using their intellectual self , where they recognize their ideas were wrong or unhelpful. For example:

Emotional self: I am useless because I didn’t get all A’s Intellectual self: It was a tough test; no one got all A’s .

After role-play has ended, it’s helpful to ask the client several questions to encourage metacognition (Beck, 2011; Mann, 2010):

• What did you learn about yourself?
• How did you feel in each role you played?
• What did you discover?
• Did you come to a better understanding of how you or another felt?
• If so, what was that understanding?
• What do you think you will do differently the next time you face this situation?

During role-play, it is helpful for the person playing the role to think out loud, explaining their thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and rationale behind their behavior (Baim et al., 2007).

Role reversal

Playing each side of a role-play means that the client enters into each character, walking in their shoes and considering how the same situation may be experienced differently (Baim et al., 2007).

Past and future

Any character (alive or dead) from a real past or an imagined future can be brought to life and worked through as many times as needed. There are no limits, and a situation may become better understood the more it is revisited.

Group therapy should never be thought of as second class when compared with individual therapy, as it offers a wide range of experiences for self-growth, particularly using role-play (Mann, 2010).

Role-play can be helpful with children who may not yet have the words to describe how they feel or to put in place coping mechanisms to handle extreme emotions such as anger (Snowden & Rebar, 2018).

2 Games for your group sessions

Group sessions can use games to explore and understand difficult situations and experience strong emotions.

Best and worst – Anger management

Anger can be a difficult emotion to anticipate and manage.

In a group environment, ask children (or adults) to come up with a list of situations that typically make people angry.

Ask for volunteers to come up to the front and play one person handling a situation well and managing their anger and another handling it poorly and showing their worst side.

Reflect on how the person may have felt when they got angry and how people nearby could have been impacted.

Asking for what I need

It is not always easy asking for what we want.

Ask the group to think of a situation where they fail to speak out (perhaps in class or at work) and how they react. Discuss how they are left feeling.

In pairs, practice asking for what they want in those situations, using one of the following approaches (modified from Snowden & Rebar, 2018):

I’m feeling (e.g., upset) … and I need to (e.g., explain how I feel to you).

It’s hard to talk right now, but I (e.g., need a few moments). Can we talk later?

I feel (e.g., really angry) … And I’m not sure what I need/want. Can you help me figure it out?

Having worked through the exercise in pairs, ask for volunteers to explore what worked well in front of the group.

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Role-playing scripts are one of many ways to learn to manage emotions. We have other techniques available to help therapists work with their clients to understand their feelings.

Some essential free resource include:

• Imagery-Based Exposure Worksheet This helpful worksheet is designed to guide clients through exposing themselves to strong emotions.
• Decatastrophizing Worksheet These five progressive questions take the person through the process of decatastrophizing a catastrophe.
• Radical Acceptance Worksheet This exercise helps the client manage intense negative emotions and experiences by acknowledging that it is possible to respond mindfully rather than emotionally.
• Skills for Regulating Emotions We often focus on negatives more than positives. This valuable exercise helps us redress the balance.

More extensive versions of the following tools are available with a subscription to the PositivePsychology.com Toolkit© , but they are described briefly below:

• Passengers on the Bus Group Activity Acceptance and Commitment Therapy uses the passengers on the bus metaphor to help practice observing and accepting emotional experiences.

The bus driver (volunteer from the group) talks to their passengers (other volunteers, representing distressing emotions), attempting to quiet them and enable the bus to continue in its valued direction. The aim is to learn to acknowledge each one without reacting, seeing them as simply part of the journey.

• Step one – Identify what triggers strong emotional reactions.
• Step two – Understand the reactions.
• Step three – Identify coping strategies.
• Step four – As a group, discuss their effectiveness.

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Role-play in therapy has the potential to help clients not previously helped by other treatments. By creating this safe environment, it offers a controlled place to visit past, present, and future situations that cause clients emotional upset.

Individuals reenact scenes, work through problematic behavior, then reflect on emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects of what they experienced.

Role-play is particularly helpful for practicing new skills – social or communicative – in potentially difficult situations. The client can identify coping mechanisms that work for them and uncover unhelpful or problematic behaviors that need addressing.

When appropriate, role-playing scripts can direct attention and focus on particular aspects of a situation. The therapist can stop the action to question what the client was thinking or feeling or suggest alternative approaches for handling what is happening.

Role-play offers a valuable approach that can be integrated into most therapeutic treatments to stimulate changes in thinking and behavior and learn to manage emotional responses.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Positive Psychology Exercises for free .

• Baim, C., Burmeister, J., & Maciel, M. (2007). Psychodrama: Advances in theory and practice . Routledge.
• Beck, J. S. (2011). Cognitive behavior therapy: Basics and beyond . Guilford Press.
• Corey, G. (2013). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy . Cengage.
• Dobson, K. S. (2011). Handbook of cognitive-behavioural therapies . Guilford Press.
• Hackett, D. (2011). Role-playing. In S. Goldstein & J. A. Naglieri (Eds.), Encyclopedia of child behavior and development (p. 127). Springer.
• Joyce, P., & Sills, C. (2014). Skills in gestalt counselling & psychotherapy . Sage.
• Mann, D. (2010). Gestalt therapy: 100 Key points and techniques . Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
• Nelson-Jones, R. (2014). Practical counselling and helping skills . Sage.
• Rønning, S. B., & Bjørkly, S. (2019). The use of clinical role-play and reflection in learning therapeutic communication skills in mental health education: An integrative review. Advances in Medical Education and Practice , 10, 415–425.
• Snowden, S., & Rebar, S. (2018). Anger management workbook for kids: 50 Fun activities to help children stay calm and make better choices when they feel mad . Althea Press.

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In this video, I notice that the cause of her feelings is from self abandonment because she has been emotionally invalidated growing up and has experienced abandonment, which has taught her to overlook her needs prioritising the needs of others (husband, kids) from listening to her story. The tone of her voice is flat, empty and has grief in it. She says ‘I’ a lot not ‘we.’ She has had to do all this by her self all these years! And now she barely understand her own self, why or emotional self. Her husband is not taking her out anywhere nice to cheer her up? And just went out to work? And no family time to include kids as well? Why isn’t the counsellor mentioning this to her? 1. She needs good friends who understand her well 2. What does she like doing? Hobbies and interests that being her joy 3. Start journalling 4. Start to self parent 5. Love yourself

i love reading this. it helps a lot. thanks

This is one of the most practical resources I have read on the subject matter

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• Creating Effective Scenarios, Case Studies and Role Plays

Creating effective scenarios, case studies and role plays

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Scenarios, case studies and role plays are examples of active and collaborative teaching techniques that research confirms are effective for the deep learning needed for students to be able to remember and apply concepts once they have finished your course. See  Research Findings on University Teaching Methods .

Typically you would use case studies, scenarios and role plays for higher-level learning outcomes that require application, synthesis, and evaluation (see  Writing Outcomes or Learning Objectives ; scroll down to the table).

The point is to increase student interest and involvement, and have them practice application by making choices and receive feedback on them, and refine their understanding of concepts and practice in your discipline.

These types of activities provide the following research-based benefits: (Shaw, 3-5)

• They provide concrete examples of abstract concepts, facilitate the development through practice of analytical skills, procedural experience, and decision making skills through application of course concepts in real life situations. This can result in deep learning and the appreciation of differing perspectives.
• They can result in changed perspectives, increased empathy for others, greater insights into challenges faced by others, and increased civic engagement.
• They tend to increase student motivation and interest, as evidenced by increased rates of attendance, completion of assigned readings, and time spent on course work outside of class time.
• Studies show greater/longer retention of learned materials.
• The result is often better teacher/student relations and a more relaxed environment in which the natural exchange of ideas can take place. Students come to see the instructor in a more positive light.
• They often result in better understanding of complexity of situations. They provide a good forum for a large volume of orderly written analysis and discussion.

There are benefits for instructors as well, such as keeping things fresh and interesting in courses they teach repeatedly; providing good feedback on what students are getting and not getting; and helping in standing and promotion in institutions that value teaching and learning.

Outcomes and learning activity alignment

The learning activity should have a clear, specific skills and/or knowledge development purpose that is evident to both instructor and students. Students benefit from knowing the purpose of the exercise, learning outcomes it strives to achieve, and evaluation methods. The example shown in the table below is for a case study, but the focus on demonstration of what students will know and can do, and the alignment with appropriate learning activities to achieve those abilities applies to other learning activities.

(Smith, 18)

What’s the difference?

Scenarios are typically short and used to illustrate or apply one main concept. The point is to reinforce concepts and skills as they are taught by providing opportunity to apply them. Scenarios can also be more elaborate, with decision points and further scenario elaboration (multiple storylines), depending on responses. CETL has experience developing scenarios with multiple decision points and branching storylines with UNB faculty using PowerPoint and online educational software.

Case studies

Case studies are typically used to apply several problem-solving concepts and skills to a detailed situation with lots of supporting documentation and data. A case study is usually more complex and detailed than a scenario. It often involves a real-life, well documented situation and the students’ solutions are compared to what was done in the actual case. It generally includes dialogue, creates identification or empathy with the main characters, depending on the discipline. They are best if the situations are recent, relevant to students, have a problem or dilemma to solve, and involve principles that apply broadly.

Role plays can be short like scenarios or longer and more complex, like case studies, but without a lot of the documentation. The idea is to enable students to experience what it may be like to see a problem or issue from many different perspectives as they assume a role they may not typically take, and see others do the same.

Foundational considerations

Typically, scenarios, case studies and role plays should focus on real problems, appropriate to the discipline and course level.

They can be “well-structured” or “ill-structured”:

• Well-structured  case studies, problems and scenarios can be simple or complex or anything in-between, but they have an optimal solution and only relevant information is given, and it is usually labelled or otherwise easily identified.
• Ill-structured  case studies, problems and scenarios can also be simple or complex, although they tend to be complex. They have relevant and irrelevant information in them, and part of the student’s job is to decide what is relevant, how it is relevant, and to devise an evidence-based solution to the problem that is appropriate to the context and that can be defended by argumentation that draws upon the student’s knowledge of concepts in the discipline.

Well-structured problems would be used to demonstrate understanding and application. Higher learning levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation are better demonstrated by ill-structured problems.

Scenarios, case studies and role plays can be  authentic  or  realistic :

• Authentic  scenarios are actual events that occurred, usually with personal details altered to maintain anonymity. Since the events actually happened, we know that solutions are grounded in reality, not a fictionalized or idealized or simplified situation. This makes them “low transference” in that, since we are dealing with the real world (although in a low-stakes, training situation, often with much more time to resolve the situation than in real life, and just the one thing to work on at a time), not much after-training adjustment to the real world is necessary.
• By contrast,  realistic  scenarios are often hypothetical situations that may combine aspects of several real-world events, but are artificial in that they are fictionalized and often contain ideal or simplified elements that exist differently in the real world, and some complications are missing. This often means they are easier to solve than real-life issues, and thus are “high transference” in that some after-training adjustment is necessary to deal with the vagaries and complexities of the real world.

Scenarios, case studies and role plays can be  high  or  low fidelity :

High vs. low fidelity:  Fidelity has to do with how much a scenario, case study or role play is like its corresponding real world situation. Simplified, well-structured scenarios or problems are most appropriate for beginners. These are low-fidelity, lacking a lot of the detail that must be struggled with in actual practice. As students gain experience and deeper knowledge, the level of complexity and correspondence to real-world situations can be increased until they can solve high fidelity, ill-structured problems and scenarios.

Further details for each

Scenarios can be used in a very wide range of learning and assessment activities. Use in class exercises, seminars, as a content presentation method, exam (e.g., tell students the exam will have four case studies and they have to choose two—this encourages deep studying). Scenarios help instructors reflect on what they are trying to achieve, and modify teaching practice.

For detailed working examples of all types, see pages 7 – 25 of the  Psychology Applied Learning Scenarios (PALS) pdf .

The contents of case studies should: (Norton, 6)

• Connect with students’ prior knowledge and help build on it.
• Be presented in a real world context that could plausibly be something they would do in the discipline as a practitioner (e.g., be “authentic”).
• Provide some structure and direction but not too much, since self-directed learning is the goal. They should contain sufficient detail to make the issues clear, but with enough things left not detailed that students have to make assumptions before proceeding (or explore assumptions to determine which are the best to make). “Be ambiguous enough to force them to provide additional factors that influence their approach” (Norton, 6).
• Should have sufficient cues to encourage students to search for explanations but not so many that a lot of time is spent separating relevant and irrelevant cues. Also, too many storyline changes create unnecessary complexity that makes it unnecessarily difficult to deal with.
• Be interesting and engaging and relevant but focus on the mundane, not the bizarre or exceptional (we want to develop skills that will typically be of use in the discipline, not for exceptional circumstances only). Students will relate to case studies more if the depicted situation connects to personal experiences they’ve had.
• Help students fill in knowledge gaps.

Role plays generally have three types of participants: players, observers, and facilitator(s). They also have three phases, as indicated below:

Briefing phase:  This stage provides the warm-up, explanations, and asks participants for input on role play scenario. The role play should be somewhat flexible and customizable to the audience. Good role descriptions are sufficiently detailed to let the average person assume the role but not so detailed that there are so many things to remember that it becomes cumbersome. After role assignments, let participants chat a bit about the scenarios and their roles and ask questions. In assigning roles, consider avoiding having visible minorities playing “bad guy” roles. Ensure everyone is comfortable in their role; encourage students to play it up and even overact their role in order to make the point.

Play phase:  The facilitator makes seating arrangements (for players and observers), sets up props, arranges any tech support necessary, and does a short introduction. Players play roles, and the facilitator keeps things running smoothly by interjecting directions, descriptions, comments, and encouraging the participation of all roles until players keep things moving without intervention, then withdraws. The facilitator provides a conclusion if one does not arise naturally from the interaction.

Debriefing phase:  Role players talk about their experience to the class, facilitated by the instructor or appointee who draws out the main points. All players should describe how they felt and receive feedback from students and the instructor. If the role play involved heated interaction, the debriefing must reconcile any harsh feelings that may otherwise persist due to the exercise.

Five Cs of role playing  (AOM, 3)

Control:  Role plays often take on a life of their own that moves them in directions other than those intended. Rehearse in your mind a few possible ways this could happen and prepare possible intervention strategies. Perhaps for the first role play you can play a minor role to give you and “in” to exert some control if needed. Once the class has done a few role plays, getting off track becomes less likely. Be sensitive to the possibility that students from different cultures may respond in unforeseen ways to role plays. Perhaps ask students from diverse backgrounds privately in advance for advice on such matters. Perhaps some of these students can assist you as co-moderators or observers.

Controversy:  Explain to students that they need to prepare for situations that may provoke them or upset them, and they need to keep their cool and think. Reiterate the learning goals and explain that using this method is worth using because it draws in students more deeply and helps them to feel, not just think, which makes the learning more memorable and more likely to be accessible later. Set up a “safety code word” that students may use at any time to stop the role play and take a break.

Command of details:  Students who are more deeply involved may have many more detailed and persistent questions which will require that you have a lot of additional detail about the situation and characters. They may also question the value of role plays as a teaching method, so be prepared with pithy explanations.

Can you help?  Students may be concerned about how their acting will affect their grade, and want assistance in determining how to play their assigned character and need time to get into their role. Tell them they will not be marked on their acting. Say there is no single correct way to play a character. Prepare for slow starts, gaps in the action, and awkward moments. If someone really doesn’t want to take a role, let them participate by other means—as a recorder, moderator, technical support, observer, props…

Considered reflection:  Reflection and discussion are the main ways of learning from role plays. Players should reflect on what they felt, perceived, and learned from the session. Review the key events of the role play and consider what people would do differently and why. Include reflections of observers. Facilitate the discussion, but don’t impose your opinions, and play a neutral, background role. Be prepared to start with some of your own feedback if discussion is slow to start.

An engineering role play adaptation

Boundary objects (e.g., storyboards) have been used in engineering and computer science design projects to facilitate collaboration between specialists from different disciplines (Diaz, 6-80). In one instance, role play was used in a collaborative design workshop as a way of making computer scientist or engineering students play project roles they are not accustomed to thinking about, such as project manager, designer, user design specialist, etc. (Diaz 6-81).

References:

Academy of Management. (Undated).  Developing a Role playing Case Study as a Teaching Tool. 

Diaz, L., Reunanen, M., & Salimi, A. (2009, August).  Role Playing and Collaborative Scenario Design Development. Paper presented at the International Conference of Engineering Design, Stanford University, California.

Norton, L. (2004).  Psychology Applied Learning Scenarios (PALS): A practical introduction to problem-based learning using vignettes for psychology lecturers .  Liverpool Hope University College. 

Shaw, C. M. (2010). Designing and Using Simulations and Role-Play Exercises in  The International Studies Encyclopedia,  eISBN: 9781444336597

Smith, A. R. & Evanstone, A. (Undated).  Writing Effective Case Studies in the Sciences: Backward Design and Global Learning Outcomes.  Institute for Biological Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

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Technology Enhanced Learning at SHU

Tel news, resources and sessions for sheffield hallam university staff, role-play: an approach to teaching and learning.

Role-play is a technique that allows students to explore realistic situations by interacting with other people in a managed way in order to develop experience and trial different strategies in a supported environment. Depending on the intention of the activity, participants might be playing a role similar to their own (or their likely one in the future) or could play the opposite part of the conversation or interaction. Both options provide the possibility of significant learning, with the former allowing experience to be gained and the latter encouraging the student to develop an understanding of the situation from the ‘opposite’ point of view.

How it Works

Feedback on role-play exercise

Participants are given particular roles to play in a conversation or other interaction, such as an email exchange, typical of their discipline. They may be given specific instructions on how to act or what to say, as an aggressive client or patient in denial, for example, or required to act and react in their own way depending on the requirements of the exercise. The participants will then act out the scenario and afterwards there will be reflection and discussion about the interactions, such as alternative ways of dealing with the situation. The scenario can then be acted out again with changes based on the outcome of the reflection and discussion.

Possible Technologies to Support the Approach

Role-play is a very flexible teaching approach because it requires no special tools, technology or environments, for example student could work through a role-play exercise just as effectively in a lecture hall as in a seminar room. However, technology can provide significant advantages, and even new possibilities, for using the approach as a learning activity.

At the most simple level, technology such as voice recorders, video cameras and smartphones/tablets allow traditional face-to-face role-play exercises to be recorded and stored online for later reference, analysis and reflection, as in this example of negotiation skills from EduCon, Korea . This can allow an exercise to be revisited at a later date and re-evaluated based on subsequent learning and experience, which isn’t generally possible when the exercise has not been recorded. Other tools that can be used with this traditional style of role-play are an electronic voting system or Twitter , both of which would allow a group of students to observe the role-play and evaluate the situation and conversation as it develops, such as by voting on whether a character was too aggressive or submissive during a particular interaction. This information could be retained and, coupled with a recording, provide another resource for later analysis and reflection.

However, technology can be used to create role-play exercises beyond what is possible in a face-to-face session. Asynchronous technologies, such as online forums and discussion boards, Social Networks , Twitter , etc., allow role-play to take place over longer periods of time and in a more considered way. This means that role-play can take place outside of timetabled sessions and in situations where students are unable to physical meet at the same time. In this situation students would post their part of the conversation, wait until the other participant(s) have responded, and then post their own reply, and so on. This method allows participants to engage when they are able and gives them time to consider their responses, and while it may seem quite artificial compared to a face-to-face exercise, it can reflect situations such as email discussions quite closely.

Another advantage of using technology is that it can enable external participants to take a part in the role-play. Tools such as Blackboard Collaborate , Skype and Google+ Hangouts all provide an online space where live conversations, including video, can take place. This means that a person with experience or expertise in the area being role-played can take one of the parts, producing a much more realistic experience for the student. For example, a clinical psychologist, drawing upon their own experience to make the interaction realistic, could play the part of a patient with students taking the part of the psychologist, or a chartered engineer could play the role of a project manager while students play the role of the engineers during a meeting. All of these tools can be accessed freely over the internet and only require a microphone and speakers/headphones, meaning the technical barriers are quite low. The tools typically have recording facilities that would allow the interaction to be permanently captured. These tools are also useful for role-playing among students where they are all available at the same time but can’t physically meet, such as on distance learning courses or during placement periods.

Getting Started

Journalism students role-playing various interview methods

If you are interested in trying out role-play there are a few practical questions that you should answer:

• Where in the course/module would this approach work best?
• Are there situations and interactions that students would benefit from being able to explore?
• Would ‘live’ role-play be most appropriate or would it need to be staggered over a longer period of time?
• Should the students take on all of the roles, will the tutor take a role, or can people with direct experience be involved, e.g. having a genuine client or patient play their own part?
• How much technology should be involved? Which tools are most suited? What support would be needed?
• Are the students (and other tutors) ready for this?

Having thought about these questions, you should have worked out whether role-play is an approach that makes sense in your context and have some ideas about how to introduce it. If you are still unsure, you could try a small exercise in a single session and see how the students respond.

Further Resources

Case studies from SHU :

The following links are to case studies showing how staff at SHU have used role-play ideas in their teaching:

• Using online role-play to develop ICT skills – Claire Craig

Related ‘Teaching Nuggets’ :

The following link provides further information on some activities and assessment outputs that can work well with role-play, especially for students who are part-time or not campus-based:

• Online role-play

Other resources :

• How to teach using role-playing – Carleton College
• Rehearsing for the real world: Case studies and role-play – Jones & Bartlett Learning
• Simulation and Role-play in Edwards School of Business – University of Saskatchewan
• Teaching Approaches Menu   – Sheffield Hallam University

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• Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning
• Instructional Guide

Role Playing

Role play exercises give students the opportunity to assume the role of a person or act out a given situation. These roles can be performed by individual students, in pairs, or in groups which can play out a more complex scenario. Role plays engage students in real-life situations or scenarios that can be “stressful, unfamiliar, complex, or controversial” which requires them to examine personal feelings toward others and their circumstances (Bonwell & Eison, 1991, p.47).

Unlike simulations and games which often are planned, structured activities and can last over a long period of time, role play exercises “are usually short, spontaneous presentations” but also can be prearranged research assignments (Bonwell & Eison, 1991, p.47).

Benefits of Role Playing

Role playing can be effectively used in the classroom to:

• Motivate and engage students
• Enhance current teaching strategies
• Provide real-world scenarios to help students learn
• Learn skills used in real-world situations (negotiation, debate, teamwork, cooperation, persuasion)
• Provide opportunities for critical observation of peers 

Role plays can be effectively used in the classroom to provide real-world scenarios to help students learn.

Guidelines in Developing Role Playing Exercises

Using a set of guidelines can be helpful in planning role playing exercise. Harbour and Connick (2005) offer the following:

• If you plan to use role playing as a graded exercise, introduce small, non-graded role plays early in and during the semester to help students prepare for a larger role play which will be assessed.
• Determine how the role play will be assessed: will observers be given an assessment rubric? Will observers’ remarks and scores be shared with the role players? Will the observers’ scores be included with the instructor’s scores? Will the role players be given the opportunity to revise and present the role play again? Will observers be taught how to properly assess the performance (include meaningful feedback that is not purely judgmental but rather justify all remarks that are practical and unbiased)?
• Instruct students that the purpose of the role play is to communicate a message about the topic and not focus as much on the actual person acting the role.
• Tie role plays to learning objectives so students see their relevance to course content.
• Allow time for students to practice the role play, even if it is spontaneous, so they will be able to think deeply about the role and present it in a meaningful way.
• Reduce large chunks of content into smaller sections which can be more effectively presented as a role play.
• When assigning a role play, explain its purpose and answer questions so students are able to properly prepare the exercise. Provide guidelines about content to include: general presentation behavior (eye contact, gestures, voice projection); use of props; and specific language to be used (content-related vocabulary) and language not to be used (profanity, slang).
• Challenge all students equally when assigning role plays so everyone will be assessed on equal ground.

Examples of Role Play Exercises

Students can gain additional (and alternative) meaning from the context of role playing than from non-context specific book learning and lectures. By means of guidance from clearly developed objectives and instructions, role plays can help students gain knowledge and skills from a variety of learning situations:

Role plays provide students with the opportunity to take part in activities which mirror career-related scenarios.

• Interview practice— In preparation for career interviews, students can assume the role of the interviewer and/or the interviewee.
• Marketing— In preparation for a class presentation, students can assume the position of a sales representative and sell a product.
• Retailing— To help prepare students for a guest speaker in merchandising course, students can play the role of sales manager and sales representative to gain better insight on the responsibilities of these positions.
• Counseling— In preparing for clinical practice, students can role play a family therapist whose client has revealed she has committed a criminal act.
• Teaching— In preparation for a job fair, students can role play the teacher and the student, or the administrator and the student, or the teacher and a parent.
• Debates— As a spontaneous exercise, the instructor has students briefly prepare arguments for and arguments against positions on a topic such as Logging in the Northwest and the Spotted Owl, Arab-Israeli Conflict or Airline Flight Departure Delays.

Role plays provide students with the opportunity to take part in activities which mirror career-related scenarios. To help students understand the use of role playing sessions, role plays should be content-focused, match learning objectives, and be relevant to real-world situations. Role playing exercises encourage students to think more critically about complex and controversial subjects and to see situations from a different perspective. When properly employed, role plays can motivate students in a fun and engaging way.

Bonwell, C. C., & Eison, J. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. Washington, DC: The George Washington University.

Harbour, E., & Connick, J. (2005). Role playing games and activities rules and tips. https://www.businessballs.com/roleplayinggames.htm

Lebaron, J., & Miller, D. (2005). The potential of jigsaw role playing to promote the social construction of knowledge in an online graduate education course. http://paws.wcu.edu/jlebaron/Jigsaw-FnlTCRpdf_050812.pdf

Suggested citation

Northern Illinois University Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. (2012). Role playing. In Instructional guide for university faculty and teaching assistants. Retrieved from https://www.niu.edu/citl/resources/guides/instructional-guide

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16 Role-Play Assignment

• General Information

The goal of the Role-Play Assignment is for students to improve their ability to make and utilize language choices that are appropriate for a specific situation. By understanding how to modify their language choices, students will become more successful English speakers. This presentation has 4 parts: 1) form a group with 2 or 3 other students, 2) select the setting and focus of your conversation, 3) create a role-play skit which utilizes language that is appropriate for the setting and characters, 4) introduce, perform, and analyze the role-play skit in class.

The presentation is worth 20% of the final grade.

Students are going to participate in a role-play about startup business owners promoting an innovative product or service to investors. First, as a group, students should think of an innovative product or service. Two students will act as of business partners promoting this innovative product or service. One or two students will act as investors deciding whether or not to invest money in the startup business. Students must demonstrate language choices that are appropriate for a professional setting, and they should try to utilize vocabulary words from this unit.

The presentation should begin with an introduction which introduces enough background information for the audience to understand the setting, who the characters are, and what their relationship is with each other. The presentation should end with an analysis of the language choices which were made to “create” each character.

• Presentation Requirements

Students must prepare a PowerPoint presentation to accompany their spoken presentation. The presentation must be submitted to Canvas before class when presentation is scheduled. The PowerPoint should be professional looking and utilize appropriate fonts, colors, and visuals. Presenters should all speak an equal amount of time.

• Introduce the setting and characters
• Explain the relationship between the characters
• Introduce the topic being discussed
• Perform the skit (presenters should speak approximately equal amounts)
• Explain the language choices which were made to portray character A
• Explain the language choices which were made to portray character
• Explain the language choices which were made to portray character C
• Explain what was difficult and easy about doing the role-play
• Explain if doing the role-play has made you think about your language choices more carefully
• Conclusion Sentence—End the presentation strongly

**Please note that most of the presentation time should be spent doing the role-play skit.

The introduction only needs to be long enough to set up the situation, and the language

choice analysis and conclusion should also only take a few minutes.

Time Break Up Example: A 12 minute presentation

Introduction – 1 minute

Role-Play Skit – 7 minutes

Language Choice Analysis – 3 minutes

Conclusion – 1 minutes

Academic Oral Communication for International Students Copyright © by Joy Xiao is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Assessing with Role Plays and Simulations

Role plays and simulations are forms of experiential learning in which learners take on different roles, assuming a character, personality or function within a group, and interact and participate in diverse and complex learning settings. Role plays and simulations aim to authentically emulate a given environment or challenge, giving students the chance to practise realistically the skills they will need when they graduate.  Generally speaking, they involve significant interaction among participants, and can be conducted online, face to face or in a hybrid setting.

The terms "role play" and "simulation" are sometimes used inconsistently or interchangeably. However, the two have some differences. While simulations can incorporate role play, leading to the term "role-playing simulation", they often involve a situation in which each participant’s role may not be as prominent or distinctive as it would be in a role play.  In a role play, the focus is more on the interaction between participants (or the characters they're playing); in contrast, a simulation is generally designed to help students practise solving a particular problem or addressing a particular situation.

Role plays and simulations function as learning tools for groups or individuals as they "play" online or face to face. They alter the power ratios in teaching and learning relationships between students and educators, as students learn through their explorations and the viewpoints of the character or personality they are articulating in the environment. This student-centered space can enable learner-oriented assessment, where the design of the task is created for active student learning. Students are actively involved in both self- and peer-assessment and both give and receive feedback.

Video Series - Using Role Plays in Formative Assessment - Ben Barry & Gail Trapp

When to use

Good-quality learning design provides opportunities for situated and authentic learning. As Table 1 shows, high-quality learning is situated in a real-life context and simulates the learning activities of the learner's employment area.

Table 1:  Summary of Boud & Prosser's (2002) eLearning principles of high-quality learning design (Wills, Leigh & Ip, 2011).

Incorporating simulations and role plays in learning design and using them as assessments provides students with:

• opportunities to reflect on the way knowledge will be gained in real life
• activities that are authentic in nature
• opportunities to "try out" expert performances and processes
• opportunities to learn about new perspectives and roles in life
• opportunities to reflect on learning
• opportunities to see how tacit knowledge can be made explicit
• scaffolding and coaching at critical times in the learning and assessment process
• assessment that is aligned with learning objectives within the task.

Role plays and simulations significantly contribute to students' learning and assessment when they allow students to view multiple perspectives on their responses in a safe but challenging environment.

Benefits of assessing by role play

• Role play is an excellent means of evaluating decision-making and interpersonal communication skills.
• Role play is particularly useful to students who will operate in a tense professional environment that requires complex decision-making (e.g. diplomacy, acute or sensitive medical-care settings, psychology and counselling).
• Scenarios can be scaffolded, gradually increasing in complexity to ensure that students reach a sufficient level of competence.
• Role plays can help you evaluate students' ability to work under pressure and with others, and can provide opportunities for inter-professional learning.
• With online simulated learning environments, students can role play anonymously.

Benefits of assessing by simulation

• Simulation is a form of authentic assessment. When exposed to active, experiential, reflective and contextual learning approaches such as simulated environments, students can see the direct relevance of their educational experience to their future practice.
• Educators can assess a student's preparedness for the practical placement component of their degree.
• Technology-based forms of simulation can enable instant feedback to students.
• Simulations are effective means of evaluating students' competencies, such as their professionalism, as well as their content knowledge.

When using role plays and simulations for assessment, you will need to consider a number of aspects:

• Align the task with the learning outcomes.
• Provide students (ideally in the course outline) with clear and explicit information as to what is expected.
• Ensure that the task is authentic and real-world-based. (You might also consider inviting subject-matter experts to come in as real-time resources for students to consult, as they might consult mentors in a professional setting.)
• Scaffold the learning experience, breaking tasks down to manageable size.
• Consider using role plays and simulations for both formative feedback and summative assessment, rather than introducing them only at the end of the course as a summmative assessment.

Once you have debriefed with the students about their experience with the assessent, evaluate the learning design in terms of its strategy and effectiveness, and identify possibilities for improvement.

Role plays, particularly those used as assessments, need to be carefully structured to maintain a focus on the learning outcomes, as imaginative students may very easily veer off-topic.  (You may also need to be ready to guide them back onto the point.)  The more care you can take in clearly defining the parameters within which the characters interact, the more successful your students are likely to be in understanding what they're aiming to achieve. These guidelines can include a detailed description of the scenario and subject matter, how long each role play will last, what tone or level of formality in speaking the students should adopt (such as specifying that the role play occurs in a professional setting, or that the characters are employer and employee or patient and health-care worker), the necessity for courtesy and respect and procedures for resolving questions or withdrawing from participation during the role play.

You may also want to develop some alternatives for those students who are uncomfortable with spoken English or with being in a position where they're being scrutinised by their peers.  Options could include an online role play over videoconferencing or as a text chat, or allowing a student to write a script for a role play that shows they have achieved the learning outcomes.  It's also possible that occasionally a student becomes overwhelmed by participating in the role play, and you may need to be able to offer appropriate support and refer the student to resources that can help.

Simulations

Simulations, which are focused more on situations and problem-solving than on characters, help students develop an overall awareness of the systems in which they will be operating "in real life". Simulations can be closed-ended, in which there is a defined goal that indicates success, or open-ended, in which the students are free to bring the simulation to a conclusion in whatever way seems appropriate to them, based on the learning outcomes they're aiming to achieve.  Simulations can easily become unworkably complex, however, particularly if they're open-ended, so it's crucial to keep a tight focus on the learning outcomes and carefully determine how each element of the simulation will help you assess your students' skills and knowledge. It's far better to have a simulation that's slightly simpler than it could have been than one that's confusing and diffuse.

As with a role-play assessment, the more clearly you can set out the parameters, the better.  A detailed description of the opening scenario and each role within it, the goal or outcome the students should aim to achieve, and aspects such as time constraints, courtesy guidelines, and procedures for questions or withdrawing are all important to set up in advance. Again, as with role-play assessment, you should be prepared with alternative assessments for students who are having difficulties, and be ready to offer students appropriate support and access to resources where necessary.

You can use role plays and simulation within a game, or use a game within a role play or simulation. Games are engaging, can be highly authentic and can incorporate a competitive element, including advancement to the next stage or problem, or the prospect of a prize at the conclusion of the game. Game feedback is generally immediate, reinforcing the student’s application of subject-matter knowledge.

However, it's important to consider, particularly when using games as part of an assessment, that to fairly assess students' skills and knowledge, the outcome of the game must depend entirely on students' application of knowledge, not random factors (such as rolling dice).

Online role plays and simulations as assessments

If you choose to conduct your role-play or simulation assessment online, this both offers additional opportunities and imposes additional requirements on the process.

• Students can take advantage of the online environment to reflect in the moment (as well as afterward) on the role play or simulation using online chat or other types of interactive platforms.
• Online or hybrid role plays or simulations can reduce barriers to participation (although it must be noted that they may also introduce barriers for those students without access to reliable internet technology).
• Online environments generally have the capability of recording the role plays or simulations, allowing for more-detailed feedback and assessment.

Boud, D., & Prosser, M. (2002). Appraising new technologies for learning: A framework for development. Educational Media International , 39 (3-4), 237-245.

Chin, J., Dukes, R. and Gamson, W. (2009). Assessment in Simulation and Gaming: A Review of the Last 40 Years . Simulation and Gaming , 40 (4), 553-568.

Flores, M. A., Simão, A. M. V., Barros, A., & Pereira, D. (2015). Perceptions of effectiveness, fairness and feedback of assessment methods: a study in higher education. Studies in Higher Education , 40 (9), 1523-1534. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.881348

Freitas, Sara I. (2006). Using Games and Simulations for Supporting Learning. Learning, Media and Technology 31 (4), 343-358.

Kolb, D.A. (1984). Experiential Learning . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Wills, S., Leigh, E. and Ip, A. (2011). The power of role-based e-learning: Designing and moderating online role play . New York: Routledge.

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Want to Facilitate Role Playing in Your Class?

Role-playing is an opportunity for students to grapple with material in simulated real-world environments. it forces students to apply their knowledge, reflect on key issues, and consider alternate view-points., why should you facilitate role playing in your class, role playing at-a-glance.

• Role-playing requires students to have a basal understanding of some information. Assigned reading, attendance of lecture, or guided research may be required for students before they are ready to take on a new role.
• Role-playing requires students to commit to an unfamiliar role and can push them past their comfort zone. It is important before the activity begins to talk about classroom etiquette and establish rules that promote student involvement and enthusiasm. You may consider having a longer explicit discussion in which you write out class rules on a board or you may just mention your expectations of student behavior briefly before the class begins.
• Some role-playing activities require students to prepare ahead of class as an individual or group. If this is the case, assign students their groups before class begins and give them the assignment with clear instructions on how they should prepare – Do they need to do research on a character or time? Do they need to understand specifics of a topic? Do they need to bring props or a costume?
• Simulations and role-playing work best when it is as close to the real-world as possible. This may mean having a particular classroom set-up or alternate location. Students may also need to wear particular clothing (costume, business attire, etc.) or refer to each other in a different tone (casual, formal, singing, etc.)
• Really commit to the setting! Students are more likely to buy into an uncomfortable situation and role if they see you are enthusiastic.
• Make sure each student has a clearly defined task. If students are working in groups, establish how they should work together. Are they a team? Competitors? Debating? Is there a hierarchy to roles? Do individual roles have different rules they should follow?
• If necessary, pose questions to the class or have a review before starting the simulation to ensure everyone is on the same page 
• If the task evolves with time, the information students need may change. Prepare how the information might change throughout the course of the role-playing and how the students will learn this information. Will the instructor give it to them? Will different students have to communicate with each other? Etc.
• Often, role-playing requires strict time constraints to be effective. Limit student’s time depending on the role/task
• Have a moment for the student to get feedback on their performance, either from the class as a whole, their partner/group, or from the instructor directly.
• What challenges did you face taking on these new roles? What was harder or easier than expected?
• If you had to do it again, what would you change?
• How did you plan for your role? What lead to the decisions you made in your role?

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Written by Catherine Weiner