Role play as an Active Engaged Learning

Role Playing

Role playing is a learning structure that

allows students to immediately apply content as they are put in the role of a decision maker who must make a decision regarding a policy, resource allocation, or some other outcome. This technique is an excellent tool for engaging students and allowing them to interact with their peers as they try to complete the task assigned to them in their specific role. This work can be done in cooperative groups and/or students can maintain the persona of their role throughout the class period. Students are more engaged as they try to respond to the material from the perspective of their character. Advantages of role playing. •Students immediately apply content in a relevant, real world context.. •Students take on a decision making persona that might let them diverge from the confines of their normal self-imposed limitations or boundaries.. •Students can transcend and think beyond the confines of the classroom setting.. •Students see the relevance of the content for handling real world situations.. •The instructor and students receive immediate feedback with regard to student understanding of the content. .•Students engage in higher order thinking and learn content in a deeper way. .•Instructors can create useful scenarios when setting the parameters of the role play when real scenarios or contexts might not be readily available.. •Typically students claim to remember their role in these scenarios and the ensuing discussion long after the semester ends...

Steps and tips for using role playing.

. 1.Offer a relevent scenario to students.. This scenario should include the role the student must play, the informational details relevant for decision making in this role, and a task to complete based on the information. This information might be provided on the screen through power point or by using a handout. It is highly recommended that the instructions be provided in writing so it is clear to students what they must do and how?.. 2.Give students five to ten minutes to complete the task. The instructor might have students do this alone or in small groups or follow the think-pair-share format in which students work individual and then discuss their results with their partner... 3.Find a way to process student deliberations. The instructor might ask students to write their replies to submit or this might be a very good lead in to a larger class discussion where students can justify their differing outcomes or opposing views...

Challenges of the role playing technique.

. One of the biggest challenges of the role playing technique is to get all students to participate and be truly engaged. Instructors might want to consider ways of increasing the likelihood of strong student participation. The instructor might offer a participation grade somehow tied to a short product students produce from their perspective in their given role. It is a good idea to find ways to increase student awareness of the likelihood their group might being called upon to share their answer with the entire class if they are playing their roles in a group context. The instructor might also consider using some of the role playing tasks in questions on exams and make it clear to students that that is the case. The instructor could even tell them that they might have to answer a question from the perspective of any of the roles, not just the one they were assigned.. Specific examples of role playing. For example,. in economics we teach that changes in revenue generated by a change in the price of a product are related the the price elasticity of demand for this product. Students are asked to imagine that they are members of a high school soccer team booster club. To make more money for the team, one parent has recommended an increase in ticket prices at the gate for games as a way to make more money. Another parent has suggested that the boosters would make more money if they actually cut ticket prices. While placed in the role of booster club member and parents of soccer players, students are asked to vote for either raising prices at games or lowering admission prices. After each student votes they are asked to convince their neighbor to vote the same way they voted. After a few minutes another vote is taken and then a fuller discussion takes place as students are asked to explain why they voted the way they did. The resulting discussion is usually a comprehensive list of reasons why attendance at high school soccer matches might be price-elastic or price-inelastic even though students might not yet be using those exact terms..

Internet based learning

OBJECTIVE
Online learning has changed medical education, but many “educational” websites do not employ principles of effective learning. This article will assist readers in developing effective educational websites by integrating principles of active learning with the unique features of the Web.
DESIGN
Narrative review.
RESULTS
The key steps in developing an effective educational website are: Perform a needs analysis and specify goals and objectives; determine technical resources and needs; evaluate preexisting software and use it if it fully meets your needs; secure commitment from all participants and identify and address potential barriers to implementation; develop content in close coordination with website design (appropriately use multimedia, hyperlinks, and online communication) and follow a timeline; encourage active learning (self-assessment, reflection, self-directed learning, problem-based learning, learner interaction, and feedback); facilitate and plan to encourage use by the learner (make website accessible and user-friendly, provide time for learning, and motivate learners); evaluate learners and course; pilot the website before full implementation; and plan to monitor online communication and maintain the site by resolving technical problems, periodically verifying hyperlinks, and regularly updating content.
CONCLUSION
Teaching on the Web involves more than putting together a colorful webpage. By consistently employing principles of effective learning, educators will unlock the full potential of Web-based medical education. Keywords: Internet, medical education, World Wide Web, e-learning, curriculum development The Internet has changed the practice of medicine, and medical education has not escaped its influence.1 A recent review found 35 evaluative studies of online interventions in medical education.2 Since that review more have been reported,3–6 and published studies likely represent only a fraction of Web-based medical education projects. Unfortunately, not all educational websites are equally effective.7 Adult learning theory—focusing on learner involvement in the learning process—has changed medical education over the past 3 decades, but its influence is not yet widespread in Web-based teaching. Alur et al. recently reviewed medical teaching websites for evidence of active learning. Although most sites met criteria for a “general informational website,” only 17% had all components of a “learning paradigm” (critical thinking, independent learning, evidence-based learning, feedback) and fewer than 50% met any criteria.8 Informational websites certainly have their use, but a teaching site will be most effective if it stimulates active learning.1 While incorporating active learning in an educational website is not difficult, it does require thought and planning.9 This article outlines essential steps in the development of Web-based courses or curricula that employ principles of active learning. It will not address technical issues such as Web programming or the specifics of webpage design. The scope of these topics prohibit adequate discussion in this paper (the reader is referred to other sources for more information 10,11). Likewise, this is not a systematic review of Web-based learning; Chumley-Jones et al. recently performed this task.2 Rather, this article presents a practical framework for developing effective educational websites by combining principles of active learning with the unique features of the Web (Table 1) We cite literature and personal experience to illustrate and support the concepts presented

Internet base lerninig

Table 1
Ten Steps to Effective Web-based Learning
1.Perform a needs analysis and specify goals and objectives
2.Determine your technical resources and needs
3.Evaluate preexisting software and use it if it fully meets your needs
4.Secure commitment from all participants and identify and address potential barriers to implementation
5.Develop content in close coordination with website design •Capitalize on the unique capabilities of the Web by appropriately using multimedia, hyperlinks, and online communication •Adhere to principles of good webpage design •Prepare a timeline; plan for up-front time investment
6.Encourage active learning—self-assessment, reflection, self-directed learning, problem-based learning, learner interaction, and feedback
7.Facilitate and plan to encourage use by the learner •Make the website accessible and user friendly •Provide time for learning •Motivate and remind; consider rewards and/or consequences
8.Evaluate—both learners and course
9.Pilot the website before full implementation
10.Plan to monitor online communication and maintain the site by resolving technical problems, periodically verifying hyperlinks, and regularly updating content