Bring the SDGs into the classroom through role play and gamification
Bring the SDGs into the classroom through role play and gamification
Bring the SDGs into the classroom through role play and gamification
By Shelini Surendran, Kat Mack, Anand Mistry
November 03, 2023
Summary
Imagine a scenario where students walk into a room and, without any introductions or explanations, they are assigned one of three roles: a team member, a worker or a buyer.
The students who drew "Team member" roles learn that they must make as much money as possible by working to make products with the paper.
Although it's just a simulation, the emotions students feel during the activity are genuine.
In the facilitated debrief after the role playing, students are silent and reflective as they see the faces and names of the waste pickers they had been playing.
It's skills such as empathy and social awareness that cannot be replicated by generative AI systems, making experiential learning even more vital to students' career outcomes and in nurturing the next generation of change-makers and world leaders.
Our post-participation surveys show that 95 per cent of students want to engage with these issues further through research, internships or volunteering.
Others committed to volunteering locally and some students felt inspired to go to India to work on the ground with the social enterprise that supports these women.
Reference
Surendran, S., Mack, K., & Mistry, A. (2023, November 3). Bring the sdgs into the classroom through role play and Gamification. THE Campus Learn, Share, Connect. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/bring-sdgs-classroom-through-role-play-and-gamification