Argues role-play simulation (1) delivers valuable opportunities for learning about the dynamics of public argument; (2) provides substantial opportunities for graded assessment; and (3) frees students to conceive of important alternative modes of deliberation. (NH)

A systematic training program in CUE: Communicating, understanding and empathy can have some significant effects on the participants. Even though the treatment in this investigation consisted of 14, 80-minute lessons, the high-school students who received the training were able to communicate empathy at a significantly higher level than their…

Focuses on the use of melodrama as an instructional tool in social studies classrooms. Discusses how to set up a melodrama and stage a melodrama. Provides ideas for possible melodramas that address issues of democracy, such as constitutional challenges and civil disobedience. (CMK)

Sophomores were assigned to a no-training control group or to one of three empathy training methods: the double method, involving role taking; reflection, where the trainee is asked to mirror back another's feelings; or lecture. All three methods proved effective, but the double method provided the best results. (SJL)

Proposes two approaches to using role-playing in the history classroom: (1) providing factual information to the students; and (2) allowing them to discover the experiences of historical actors. Expounds that the recommended role-playing simulations help students discover why Canadians were divided over the conscription issue in World War I. (CMK)