Role playing activities may not have been promoted in math and science classrooms for a number of reasons. To begin with, math and science have been traditionally been content heavy courses and time for “play” has been limited. They are also built on objectivity and evidence which leaves little room for common role playing activities, which might be viewed as a social activity. Thirdly, math becomes very abstract by high school and finding ways to incorporate role playing in a meaningful way requires creativity. Finally, there is little tradition of role playing in mathematics and science, and teachers tend to use activities that they have found successful in the past.
However, just because role playing might be used less frequently in math and science classes does not mean that it is not used at all. I have been in many math classes where role-playing, or a variation of it, has been used. Having students act out transformations of quadratic functions by jumping around and using their arms to indicate which way the parabola opens and whether it is “skinny” or “wide”, and having students act out motion graphs while their partners sketch what they see and then comparing the graphs are just two examples. Neither of these activities used technology, but they are examples of students using their bodies to express and create their knowledge. According to Winn (2003), our bodies interacting with our environment sheds light on our cognition and “This physical dimension of cognition is referred to as “embodiment” ” (p. 7). Role playing is one way to encourage embodiment by taking our thoughts and transferring them into physical action.
In a modified way, role playing can also be seen in conversations in math classes. Radford (2005) identified the concept that multiple semiotic means are used when students discuss math. Often, one semiotic system is used for one aspect of a problem, and another for a different aspect of the problem. For example, words might be used to discuss time and gestures or actions to indicate speed and direction. We have to look at them together in context to understand what is going on in the students’ learning process. When students engage in mathematical conversations, gestures and sometimes even sound effects, become part of the conversation. As the students engage in these actions, they are acting out part of the mathematical function or activity (role playing, in a sense) as a means to help explain what they are thinking. Their thoughts are embodied in their actions and their “senses collaborate in the course of a multi-sensorial experience of the world.” (Radford, 2010; p. XXXVI) Putting thought into words, symbols or gestures makes it more concrete and helps the learner engage in metacognition. Role playing can be an active enhancement to both embodied learning and metacognition.
Incorporating technology into role playing changes the types of activities you can create, as well as their complexity, although it can also make it more challenging for the teacher. Barnacle and Dall’Alba (2005) indicate that, from the framework of embodied knowing, the relationship between the user and the technology is what impacts learning, not the technology itself. Technology is not neutral, but rather its affordances frame how learning occurs and how it is constructed by both the learner and the teacher. Roschelle (2003) indicated that spatially directed communications – when students have to move or physically interact with their surroundings (like taking the temperature of a stream with a probe, moving around in a class to “catch” a virus on their mobile device) – enhanced the effectiveness of the use of technology in role-playing type activities. If embodied learning is the goal, then it is important that the technology be chosen purposefully as an extension of the person using it and that it be used actively and interactively.
Role-playing, whether it is acting out a scenario or simply the interaction of a student with a concept during a discussion, can be a valuable part of a mathematics or science classroom. Placing the student into the problem or concept changes their interaction with it and incorporates their whole body, rather than just their thoughts. Embodied learning involves the whole person and their environment. With our without technology, role-playing is a step in this direction.
References:
Barnacle, R. & Dall’Alba, G. (2005). Embodied knowing in online environments. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 37(5), 719-744.
Radford, L. (2010). Signs, gestures, meanings: Algebraic thinking from a cultural semiotic perspective. In V. Durand-Guerrier, S. Soury-Lavergne, & F. Arzarello, F. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sixth Conference of European Research in Mathematics Education (CERME 6) (pp. XXXIII – LIII). Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France.
Radford, L. (2005). Why do gestures matter? Gestures as semiotic means of Objectification. In Helen L. Chick, Jill L. Vincent (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, University of Melbourne, Australia, Vol. 1, pp. 143-145.
Roschelle, J. (2003). Unlocking the learning value of wireless mobile devices. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 19(3), pp. 260-272
Winn, W. (2003). Learning in artificial environments: Embodiment, embeddedness, and dynamic adaptation. Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning, 1(1), 87-114.