Learning activity

Perspective swap discussion

Using roleplay to foster diverse perspectives and meaningful discussions

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Pedagogy

Collaborative Learning

Learning outcome

Collaboration

Prep time

Low (<10 min)

Activity type

Learning Activity

Why this learning activity?

Learning activities targeting high-order skills like this one can help you activate students more effectively. This learning activity will help you with:

Develop research skills

Students are required to research the assigned background so they can perform the roleplay.

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Engage in role-play

Students role-play adopting the assigned background so they can interact by putting themselves in the shoes of a person with a different background.

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Practice self-reflection

Students are required to reflect on their adoption of the background and how the discussion went when arguing from a different perspective.

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Activity setup

Activity steps Activity goals Tools used In this activity

Perspective swap discussion

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Activity steps

Read instructions: In this step, students are expected to read the instructions for the activity and they will learn about the topic to discuss and the assigned background.
Discussion posts: Students are expected to post in character, using their research to make an accurate, yet always respectful depiction of the assigned background in regards to the topic.
Peer discussion: Students are expected to continue discussing the topic.
Grading: Teachers grade and publish the grades to students.

Learning Activities Used

Discussion on Work

Engaging online discussions to foster meaningful interactions

Discussion on Topic

Meaningful learning interactions to nurture critical and reflective thinking

In this activity

This activity encourages students to actively and critically engage in discussions.

Modify activity instructions to fit your discussion topic and background, discussions are set to post and discuss individually, you may consider group setup if you teach a large group of students.
Modify discussion prompt to pace the discussion, you can specify the minimum number of posts and desired length.
Peer discussion is set to “Free form” to give freedom to the students, you may want to assign students to discussions if your group needs more scaffolding.
Setup grading as required.