The overall goal of these assignments is to provide students with opportunities for "hands-on" learning about important topics and issues related to their course and learning community.

Role plays are staged 'dramas.' They can be based on real worlds issues (e.g. a role play about the Clean Air Act, the events of September 11, George Mason University Honor Code). Role plays may also be based on hypothetical situations (e.g. If you were Creon in the play Antigone, would you have released Antigone? Why or Why not?).

Participants in role-plays can either play themselves (e.g What values do I have that may shed light on this problem?) or they can play others (e.g. if I were a policymaker, how might I address this problem?).

Role-Plays can be short (e.g. last a class period) or they can be much longer, spanning the course of a semester. In short, role-plays are flexible activities that can be adapted easily to the learning goals of almost any course.

Assignment #1 (adapted from Mel Silberman's Active Learning manual):

This exercise is a relatively simple role-play to integrate into a course. Its multiple purpose as a learning, reflection, and assessment tool make it an excellent introduction into role-playing.

Before class, divide students into teams based on the following roles (or ones you create):

• Interrogators
  Based on the class discussion, provide a list of at least 3 questions you'd like to ask
• Assistants (Helpful)
  Identify at least three major points to the class discussion you found helpful and explain why they were helpful.
• Assistants (Unhelpful)
  Comment on at least three points from the discussion that you found unhelpful or disagreed with and explain why
• Muddy Pointers
  Point out at least three confusing points (e.g. concepts, definitions, examples (from the discussion that need clarification.
• Example Givers
  Provide at least three specific examples of ways you believe you could productively apply the material you learned
• Quiz Makers
  Propose three questions you could use to assess your classmates' understanding of the materials discussed from today's class.
• Competency Spotters/ Learning Goals
  Indicate at least three points of connection between today's discussion and NCC competencies or between today's readings and classroom learning goals

As part of a class in a computer lab, or as assignment homework, students can use Townhall, a Moo, or Instant Messaging to share their responses and engage in dialogue about the class material. Doing so provides immediate feedback to the instructor, indicates the level of student understanding, and engages students in a reflective debriefing of the class. Debriefing this activity during the following class period with a print-out of the discussion makes a great transition from the previous class into the current class

Assignment #2: Stepped Role-Play

This longer assignment draws on a variety of skills (e.g. research, writing) and integrates nicely into a learning community with a service learning component.

Part I: Data Gathering & Inquiry
Students are assigned (individual or group) a case study to research from a particular perspective

Example A:
Faculty member assigns students to explore various aspects of welfare (e.g. housing, food stamps, Medicaid) from a variety of different perspectives (e.g. congressional representative, senator, welfare rights organization, welfare recipient, father's rights groups).

Students must gather background information on welfare reform history and current welfare statistics and testimony related to their topic. Students should account for their data gathering methods and provide justification for source utility and selection.

Example B:
Assignment requires students to explore proposed Fairfax County amendments designed to strengthen the County Chesapeake Bay Preservation Ordinance and improve the County's ability to better protect forests and wetlands in floodplain areas and stream valleys from harmful development.

Some students take the position of local business interests, others of policymakers in Fairfax County and neighboring regions, some of citizens, and so on. Students must gather information on the ordinance and related issues. Students should account for their data gathering methods and provide justification for source utility and selection.

Part III: Role Play
Relying on position papers and evidence, students debate a topic related to their case study using town hall, a MOO, Instant Messaging, or other appropriate technology.

Example A:
The time is August 15, 1996, just prior to the passage of the controversial welfare reform legislation. Your role is to advocate for your position to be represented in the final legislative bill. As you prepare for this role play, carefully read your position statement. Then, browse through course readings. Think about ways you might use narratives, arguments, media, slogans, songs, and appeals to make your case strong.

Example B:
It is Monday, February 25, 2002 and you are present at the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors hearing to consider the newly proposed amendments. Your job is to make a case for which amendments ought to be supported and which amendments ought to be tabled based on your evidence and in light of your assigned role.

Assignment #2: Variations

Faculty interested in enhancing course content with a role play for a brief time might consider shortening the assignment by omitting:

Part I
In this case, faculty member could provide students with all of the background information they need to participate in the role play exercise or faculty members could rely on course materials to provide students with the background they need.

Parts I & II
Faculty members could give students a position paper as a 'take-home' assignment and ask students to prepare for the role play with this information.

Part IV
The reflective process can take place in a variety of media. Students may, for example, conduct the role play as a fish bowl exercise with a group of students whose role it is to monitor the discussion, assess strategies, and facilitate a debriefing at the end of class.

Students may also write a daily log or a more formal paper. Or, student debriefing could take place as an on-line chat.

Competencies with major emphasis: Group Work, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving

1. Control
During role-play activities, instructors lose considerable "control" over the classroom as well as the direction of the conversation. To encourage thoughtful role-play discussions, consider:

• Giving a few students the role of "moderator." As moderators, students practice facilitation skills even as they become increasingly invested in the success of the role-play.
• Giving yourself an appropriate role. Doing so gives you "license" to modify the direction of a conversation if necessary without making it appear as if you (the instructor) are trying to take control of the class or stop the role play.
• Preparing yourself for the role play to take on a life of its own. Take notes on what is happening in the role play so you can go back and facilitate a reflection. o Making time for reflection. If all else fails and the role-play seems to be more of a failure than a success, make time for a guided reflection to process what happened, why it happened, and what could be done differently.
• Preparing yourself for a shorter than expected role-play. You may think you have a GREAT role play and suddenly after 20 minutes, the students find they have nothing more to discuss. How will you respond? Will you try to interject new possibilities? Will you pronounce the role play as over? Will you begin a debriefing process?
• Avoiding any implication that the role-play was a failure. Students take risks in role-playing activities and may be reluctant to take chances in the future if they feel unsuccessful. Also avoid stopping a role-play prematurely, especially in learning communities where students are more "vocal." Simply stated, it doesn't go over very well to give students responsibility and then take it away.

2. Controversial Topics
One benefit of role-plays (especially those where students are playing people other than themselves) is that students voice different ideas and opinions. One disadvantage of role-plays is that students voice ideas and opinions! Several options to minimize the effect of inflammatory, controversial, or inappropriate comments include:

• Highlighting a diversity statement on your syllabus. Let students know that they WILL encounter prejudicial, controversial, and provocative statements and prepare students to discuss productive ways of responding.
• Choosing an issue that is less likely to provoke strong outbursts.
• Allowing time for reflection after the role play to diffuse problem topics or issues.

3. Command of your Subject
Know your subject well and be prepared to spend considerable time developing role-plays based on real-life situations. If students are playing "real" people other than themselves, they need comprehensive character descriptions and detailed context. If you are providing character development and background information (as opposed to making those student assignments) be as thorough and informed as you can. Consider, as well:

• Identifying clear learning objectives for the role play and understanding how the role play will help students learn. Review those learning objectives with students either before or after the role-play. As with any type of active learning, students often need to make clear connections.
• Practicing the role play in your imagination and with your colleagues to be sure there will be sufficient conflict/discussion possibilities.

4. Can You Help?
ome classes have students who are attached to the instructor-student model and who will appeal to their instructor for guidance on how to begin and process a role-play. If you have students who are concerned about getting the "right answer," you will likely encounter such obstacles. Consider:

• Reminding students that the outcome of a role-play is NOT determined in advance and so there is no one "RIGHT" outcome.
• Preparing yourself and your students for an awkward start. During in-class role-plays, students may take 5-10 minutes to get into character. They will look to you and express their discomfort. When this happens, encourage students to remain in character and remove yourself (your presence) as much as you can. Sometimes allowing students to wear name-tags and introduce themselves prior to the role-play facilitates dialogue.
• Reminding students that they don't have to be a good actor or actress to play a role.
• Preparing yourself for students to ask for clarification on ideas or rules if you are discussing topics like policies. Know beforehand how you will respond. In some cases, students may need the information to proceed in a meaningful manner. But be forewarned that when an instructor steps into a role-play, it stops the rhythm of the role-play and it may take students time to resume their conversation.

5. Considered Reflection
Reflection is the key to a successful role-play. Provide ample time to discuss the process of role-playing. How did students feel during the role-play? What did they learn? What might they have done differently? How do role-playing themes link to course themes, course objectives, NCC competencies, experiential learning? Two obvious methods of reflection include:

• Instructor-guided role-plays
  In this case, you can resume some control in the classroom. If the role-play has not gone well for any number of reasons, a instructor-guided role play is best. You have the opportunity to make some connections and diffuse problems.
• Student guided role-plays
  In role-plays that have been lively, engaging, and instructive, providing students with the opportunities to facilitate debriefing sessions can be rewarding. You might consider assigning some students the role of "observer" in the role-play with student/faculty developed guided questions. As the role-play progresses, the "observers" can take notes on what is happening and report back to the class.

Technology May Enhance Learning in Role-Playing Activities
Technology (e.g. MOO, Townhall, Instant Messaging) benefits role-playing activities by . . .

1. Allowing participants the opportunity to set their character descriptions

2. Enabling participants to keep a written record of all verbal transactions for post-analysis

3. Fostering "in-character" dialogue by reducing the prominence of physical appearances (e.g race, sex)

4. Developing strategic written communication skills

5. Encouraging all participants (even those who are reluctant to voice their opinions in the classroom) to express opinions by minimizing inhibitions

6. Promoting authenticity in characters and evidence by allowing participants to cut and paste important evidence (e.g. hearing testimony or bill excerpts) into the text

7. Providing participants with virtual group time to complete group assignments related to the role playing activities (e.g. research, position paper, character analyses)

8. Inviting students to continue dialoging about classroom activities outside of the classroom.