Role playing

The activity:

The students are asked to play a part in a creative dramatic representation of a process or a technique. This can be done in many different ways, depending on the content to be covered.

In one approach, students can be parts of a whole (atoms in a crystalline arrangement, base pairs on a DNA sequence, molecules in a balloon full of gas, building materials in a building project). By asking students to take an active participation, big structures can be constructed using their bodies as "building blocks". For some types of learners, this kinesthetic activity is very enjoyable and contributes to their understanding of the subject. Some' students will be reluctant to join in the game, and they can be asked to function as "reporters", asking questions and keeping track of important details (the number of bonds on each atom, closing all electric circuits, etc). Role playing can also be used in a different manner, by assigning roles to the student. For example, students can be handed a memo as they walk in the lab " promoting" them to chief engineering or lab supervisor assigned to a particular task. This type of role playing is usually a motivating experience that can have a positive impact on the class performance.