The Use of the Role-Playing Technique STARS in Formal Didactic Contexts

This study presents STARS (Student Activating Role-playing GameS), a low-threshold form of live action role-playing adapted for formal German school settings. Its central argument is that larp-style learning can be designed and facilitated within institutional constraints, despite the rarity of such approaches in schools, which the authors attribute to teacher skill gaps, testing cultures, and a shortage of accessible materials. The work distinguishes school use from leisure larping through four parameters: curricular guidelines, compulsory participation, grading practices, and time and space constraints.

The empirical foundation consists of 16 games and 53 Design-based Research cycles conducted over five years across more than 20 schools in Bavaria and Southern Germany. From this material the authors synthesize 17 design principles, seven of which function as guiding principles, including the absence of an uninvolved audience, mandatory inclusion paired with opt-out mechanisms, and the rule that the role-play itself is never graded. Reluctance to participate surfaced in only four of the 53 cycles, suggesting that voluntariness can be sustained in practice when properly structured.

Practical recommendations emphasize simple and inclusive characters, limited props and printouts, repetition of each game three to five times per school year, varied feedback methods, and in-game interruption to address disrespect. The authors propose a before, during, and after model and find that students engage more when the learning rationale is communicated early, and that feedback, opt-out, and reflection routines require explicit training. The findings are limited by their single regional context, by implementation being carried out by the research team rather than by teachers, and by the need for further empirical testing. The authors call for external specialist teams to develop curriculum-tailored larps so that teachers can learn the format on site.