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 Activities Text-based role play

Text-based role play

Short description

Students read an empirical study and take on roles to “act out” when discussing the text in class. This will eventually become a form of literature review.

              

Objective

THE OBJECTIVE

STUDY SKILLS
  • The activity is particularly useful for courses involving empirical studies, as students often find these texts difficult to read.   

DISCUSSION
  • The activity facilitates academic discussions in the classroom, while sharpening students' ability to argue from an academic rather than a personal point of view.

Execution

PREPARATIONS

TEACHER'S PREPARATION
  • Divide students into groups and assign a range of roles to the group members. Examples of roles could be: author of the article, critic, neutral/undecided reader or practitioner. Assign each group an empirical text to work with. 
  • Share the material on Brightspace. 

STUDENT'S PREPARATION
  • Students read the assigned texts in advance.

IN CLASS

IN PLENUM

  • Introduce the activity and explain the roles to the students. 

  • Create groups and assign each student a role in the group. 

IN GROUPS
  • The groups review the empirical study by discussing it based on their assigned roles. 

IN PLENUM
  • After the discussion, each group presents their conclusion in class.

Considerations

CONSIDER

ABSENT STUDENTS
  • Keep in mind that some students may be absent, so be prepared to adjust the groups or texts as necessary.

Options to vary the activity

OPTION TO VARY THE ACTIVITY

ONLINE

Overview

Time frame 45 minutes
When will the activity take place? In class
Format Group
Form of instruction Classroom instruction
Type of activity Information and knowledge/Communication and discussion
How In class
Technology Zoom

Contact

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Revised 16.04.2026
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Nina Bang Morgensol