Assessing the Impacts of a Cross-Disciplinary Role-Playing Intervention in a Large General Education Course
This project will formally assess the impacts of a historical role-playing exercise on critical thinking, scientific literacy, and core self-efficacy and perspective-taking skills amongst first year undergraduates in a large general education course. The game positions students as characters in a real-life debate from 2002, when southern African countries expressed concerns about the United States’ plan to donate genetically modified (GM) corn during an impending famine. Students represent leaders of African countries, US and EU regulators and scientists, non-profits, and aid organizations, completing research, writing, and debate in role across the quarter. To assess the impacts of the exercise on students’ self-reported self-efficacy and perspective-taking, we collected pre and post-course survey data in Fall 2023 and 2024 (using established survey scales and comparing to another Cluster with no game). We also collected post-course quantitative and qualitative data investigating the impact of the game on students’ personal views, reasoning skills, and change in perspective, as well as their reflections on the impacts of participation and learning gains. Using mixed methods approaches, our preliminary data analysis suggests that the game improved college self-efficacy scores to a greater degree than in the comparison course, although we have not yet analyzed Fall 2024 data. In addition, preliminary qualitative analysis indicates that students differentially utilize lines of evidence represented in the game to justify their own positions on GMOs post-game. Completion of data analysis facilitated by this grant will help us better understand how students develop core interpersonal and academic skills and learn to navigate complicated socio-scientific issues through immersive role-playing exercises.