Role Play

Pedagogical Purpose

Role plays offer a dramatization of a real-world example. They allow for the opportunity to present scenarios where a situation's subtextual and implicit dynamics can be observed and analyzed rather than described in the abstract. This is especially useful for subjects defined by human relationships: for example, management, negotiation, conflict resolution, etc.

The production process differs significantly from many other video types. Writing these scenarios requires naturalistic dialog and crafting realistic situations from which students can draw useful lessons. Recordings may be more logistically involved, involving multiple actors and requiring that more footage be gathered to facilitate editing.

Original production is not always necessary to engage in this pedagogy. Pre-existing situations from documentaries and even fiction films can sometimes fill the same role.