In social studies classrooms, role playing activities would generally involve students assuming the role of an important figure in history or representing a group of people. The purpose of role play would be to understand different perspectives of those adopted characters and develop a deeper understanding of history or human societies in general. I speculate that the reason role playing activities are not promoted in math and science classrooms is because a concept in math or science does not directly translate into a character or role as easily as it does in social studies. However, this is not to say that role playing does not have a place in math and science classroom.
According to Winn (2003), “cognition is embodied in physical activity, … this activity is embedded in a learning environment, and … learning is the result of adaptation of the learner to environment and the environment to the learner” (p. 1). When considering this definition of cognition, role playing seems to be a great tool for learning. This is because role-playing involves the use of one’s body to act out a role and interact with the environment (which may involve a made up scenario and other students acting out other roles). An effective use of role playing in learning geometry was demonstrated by Duatepe-Paksu and Ubuz (2009). In their study, they took a group of seventh grade students and taught geometry through drama based instruction, which included role-playing and compared these students to another group of seventh graders taught traditionally with the use of a textbook, worksheets and teacher directed instruction. All geometrical concepts covered between the two different instructional methods were the same. To learn about circles and their properties, the drama based instruction group was told that they were scouts going to a campsite. They walked in line, singing until the instructor told them that they had reached their campsite and were asked to stand so that everyone could see one another and then were told to position themselves to get heat equally around a fire pit. Through this role playing exercise, the students learned about what defined a circle, the properties of a circle, and objects in day to day life that were circles. The study showed that drama-based instruction had significant effects on students’ achievement, retention, thinking and attitudes compared to traditional teaching methods. Drama based instruction made learning easier and students understood concepts better because they were given the opportunity to contextualize geometric concepts and problems, role play and collaborate in the learning environment.
As demonstrated in the above example, we as teachers need to take math and science concepts and contextualize them for students, so that they can relate to these concepts and they are no longer abstract. I believe role playing is a great way to achieve this goal.
References
Duatepe-Paksu A, Ubuz B. (2009) Effects of drama-based geometry instruction on student achievement, attitudes, and thinking levels. The Journal of Educational Research. 102(4):272-286. doi:10.3200/JOER.102.4.272-286.
Winn, W. (2003). Learning in artificial environments: Embodiment, embeddedness, and dynamic adaptation. Technology, Instruction, Cognition and Learning, 1(1), 87-114.