How role playing games upended a college lecture

primesuspect

This is a pretty fascinating article about how the introduction of role-playing enhanced a college lecture.

“To play Bouguereau, you have to be Bouguereau inside and out.” Eric eschewed his customary bohemian garb and came to class in a black pinstripe suit, bow tie, and pink shirt. The other students in the class embraced their roles, too. When Eric met them outside of class, immediately they assumed their game identities: Bougeureau chatted with Monet and Meissonier. The student playing Van Gogh took to wearing a Band- Aid on her ear. Becoming other people was fun — researching their lives, writing papers from their perspective, voicing their ideas in class.

aspieRommel

I talk about using this method a lot when I speak to the Reps and Senators of the Indiana General Assembly when we chat about education. I believe that in order to effectively teach a student, especially those with Autism, ADD/ADHD, etc., it is better to do something that clicks with them. Sometimes that means putting them in the shoes of history, whether it be in the Roman Empire, in the shoes of President Truman deciding whether to invade or drop the bomb on Japan, to the handling of a crumbling Soviet Union. Classes like these will not only teach students history, but teach them how to think independently.

Creeperbane2

I had a History teacher in High School (One of the two most influential in my decision to pursue a career in teaching history) did most of his teaching by way of simulation, made history come alive. Something interesting I noticed however is that given a situation to recreate students will often times make the exact same mistakes, for example we did a simulation in which we recreated the drafting of the treaty of Versailles, the exact mistakes were made that lead to the second world war that happened in actual history.

aspieRommel

@Creeperbane2 said:
Something interesting I noticed however is that given a situation to recreate students will often times make the exact same mistakes, for example we did a simulation in which we recreated the drafting of the treaty of Versailles, the exact mistakes were made that lead to the second world war that happened in actual history.

"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it."

Creeperbane2

@Creeperbane2 said:
I had a History teacher in High School (One of the two most influential in my decision to pursue a career in teaching history) did most of his teaching by way of simulation, made history come alive. Something interesting I noticed however is that given a situation to recreate students will often times make the exact same mistakes, for example we did a simulation in which we recreated the drafting of the treaty of Versailles, the exact mistakes were made that lead to the second world war that happened in actual history.

Well there was one difference, I was representing China and covertly drafted an alliance with Germany before abstaining from the whole vote, vowing to rearm after the signing of the treaty.