Resource

Role Play/Simulations

Author: ATU Galway

What is it?

An assessment in which students assume the roles of characters and develop a script and short demonstration to show understanding of topic/subject. This assessment type enables students to act out their roles and come up with a creative dialog.

Advantages & Challenges

Advantages

Challenges

Advantages

Role play allows students to practice and develop a wide range of skills, including communication, critical thinking, problem-solving, empathy, and decision-making.
Role plays as a form assessment is versatile in its application. It can be used to assess many different scenarios such as a marketing campaign, assessing a student’s ability to perform medical care and many more.
Role play can be used as an individual or group-based assessment.
Role play simulates real-life scenarios, providing students with opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge in practical contexts.

Challenges

Tips for Use

Begin with defining the learning objectives and what you want to assess. These could include communication, problem-solving, understanding of a topic or process and ability to carry out tasks.
Determine how you want to arrange the role plays, are they individual or group based, what the scenario(s) are going to be, how you will structure the overall assessment.
Provide students with clear guidelines about what they are being asked to do.
Prepare students for the role play by providing background information, context, and relevant resources. Encourage them to research their roles, develop their characters, and consider potential strategies or responses.

Resources

University of New South Wales (UNSW): Assessing with Role Plays and Simulations | UNSW Teaching Staff Gateway
The University of Tennessee – Knoxville: The What, Why & How of Role Playing in the College Classroom (utk.edu)
University of Warwick: Simulations (warwick.ac.uk)

Sample Rubrics

Individual: University of West Georgia: pdf (westga.edu)
Group: RCampus: iRubric: Team Role-Play Presentation Assessment rubric – LXW53A9 (rcampus.com)

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