The impact of role-playing simulation activities on higher education students’ academic results

ABSTRACT

Given the importance of developing innovative higher education teaching practices in order to engage low-performance students and improve their results, this study evaluates the impact of using role-playing simulation activities in a Chilean higher education institution. In a context where pedagogical innovations have mostly been evaluated based on student perceptions, this study applies a rigorous impact evaluation on academic results using Propensity Score Matching and Differences in Differences quasi-experimental methods. Results show that students taught using role-playing simulation activities achieve better final marks and have better pass rates than students taught using traditional methods.

KEYWORDS:

• Role-playing simulation
• higher education
• academic results
• impact evaluation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Fondo de Inicio en Investigación y Desarrollo con Foco Educativo 2018 de la Universidad Tecnológica de Chile INACAP (FIIDE).

Notes on contributors

Franco Barrera

Franco Barrera is an economist and has dedicated his research to education with a focus on student dropout, impact evaluation of pedagogical innovations and the teaching of economics. Other interests include the theoretical basis of impact assessment methods and the use of hierarchical regression models in educational contexts.

Juan I. Venegas-Muggli

Dr. Juan I. Venegas-Muggli is an educational researcher specialised in studying ways to support new students accessing higher education and evaluating the impact of innovative teaching practices on students’ academic performance. His research interests include impact evaluation of support programmes and innovative teaching practices in higher education, widening participation and first-generation students.

Olga Nuñez

Dr. Olga Núñez is a researcher specialised in the study of multivariate models and its applications to industrial reliability. In addition, she has worked on research projects on educational innovation through mathematical modelling, with a special emphasis on the use of mathematical and calculation tools in undergraduate courses for engineers.