An Analysis of Group Projects and Role Playing in Developing Social Skills in Science Education

 A Reflection on the Experiences and Applications of Group Projects

In my own previous experiences with group projects, I have had both positive and negative results. In the negative experiences I had people who were procrastinators and it really stressed me out when I had everything finished and the other participants would wait until the last minute. Being grouped with people with different values of learning and different degrees of time management skills can be very frustrating. When everyone does not do their part it is difficult to feel you have gained any experience other than frustration with your peers. Therefore, when I give group assignments in my classroom I assign specific roles/jobs that students are required to do. An example given would be in labs when I have a “Measurement Manager” who is responsible for assuring the right units of measurements are being used with the right tools. By giving students specific jobs to do they feel they have a purpose in the learning experience, and it is less likely they are excluded from having an active role in the investigation. 

My positive experiences with group learning have been times where argumentation facilitated a breadth of new understanding. The results of the assignments were developed, analyzed, and revised to produce a substantial final product. I like to hear people discuss what they are truly passionate about and find that the best interactions have been when everyone in the group values the gains from completing a remarkable final product. There is a large distinction between group projects in which you want to learn the content and those you are forced to participate in. Even when students are not particularly fond of a topic, you can get students invested in the topic by letting them have choice in either what part they cover or how they present the information. Students may not enjoy learning about a particular topic, but they may enjoy the way they are presenting the information. 

When creating group assignments in the classroom you must have a buy in from your students to ensure everyone feels excited about the product. In my own classroom, when I have students complete a research-based project, I give them the choice of how they present the final product. For example, we recently did a project in which students had to differentiate between synthetic and natural products and argue which were best for consumption. Students were placed in pre-assigned groups and got to select any media. I suggested videos, skits, PowerPoints, posters, and explained if they had their own ideas they could opt to do those instead. Out of my 54 students involved in the project I only had 1 that refused to participate with their group. Conclusively, providing student choice in projects is key to getting students to buy into the projects and develop ownership of their learning. 

Role Playing to Facilitate Social Learning in Science

Role playing involves students acting out problem situations and them discussing the representations (Joyce, 2003). In guiding students in their values of equity and social justice, I feel I can create a lesson in which students argue the ethical ambiguity of controversial science research. For example, J. Robert Oppenheimer who was the “father of the atomic bomb” had conflicting ethical positions about his role in developing the technology (Anderson, 2016). Students could place themselves in scientific, public, and political roles to discuss the repercussions of scientific discoveries and how they are used by society. 

If I was to plan a fishbowl/debate activity, I would have students research certain roles involved. For example, I would have students research roles about Oppenheimer, people who were at Pearl Harbor, people who survived Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and roles of politicians. Students would then provide arguments based on their information. When evaluating students’ discussions or debate, rubrics serve as effective evaluation tools. The rubric involved in evaluating students would focus on claim, evidence, and reasoning. Did they state a claim? If so, was it supported by evidence? Did students summarize how their evidence supported their claim? Students’ ability to incorporate the components of scientific discussion would demonstrate mastery. 

To ensure every learner is engaged with the experience, students should have the opportunity to use their choice of media to present their information. Students can write letters as their roles, perform in skits, or have a text message conversation. As students place themselves in role playing positions there does not necessarily have to be an oral discussion for students to demonstrate the feelings, attitudes, values, problem-solving attitudes, and subject-matter content. This is especially true in our age of new media as most people express their feeling and values on various forms of social media. Finally, students should be both presenters and participants to receive a well-rounded experience. They should evaluate each other and provide the feedback in a student-lead experience. This could appear as giving students the grading rubric to evaluate their peers. 

Role playing is an important instructional tool in developing students’ problem-solving skills in a social context that emulates how they will interact with others in the real-world. According to Joyce et al. (2003) role playing should be used to begin a social education program and to counsel a group of children to deal with an immediate human relations problem. This is prominent in science instruction as socio-scientific issues require interventions with modern solutions. Students need to develop the skills necessary to problem-solve with peers to be able to solve global issues. 

References

Anderson, T. (2016, April 19). Oppenheimer's Dilemma. Oppenheimer's dilemma. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2016/ph241/anderson1/. 

Joyce, B., Weil, M., & Calhoun, E. (2003). Models of teaching.