Assign a Useful Role or Perspective

A role can help set an audience, perspective, vocabulary, or interaction style. It does not give a model professional credentials, privileged knowledge, or the ability to make a sound educational decision.¹

When a role helps

Use a role when the task depends on a recognisable viewpoint or relationship:

• a Socratic tutor that asks one question at a time;
• a novice reader identifying unexplained terminology;
• a stakeholder in a simulation or debate;
• an assessment editor applying supplied item-writing criteria; or
• a critical colleague looking for missing assumptions.

Roles add little to factual retrieval, summarisation, formatting, or other tasks where the source material and output criteria do the real work. Prefer “explain this to first-year nursing students using the supplied protocol” over “you are a world-leading nursing expert”.

Define behaviour rather than prestige

A useful role prompt says what the role should do, what it may rely on, and what it must avoid.

You are a critical curriculum colleague helping me review a draft activity.

Use only the supplied learning outcomes, activity description, and assessment
criteria. Identify:
1. any outcome the activity does not practise;
2. any activity that does not contribute to an outcome;
3. assumptions about students' prior knowledge; and
4. one feasible revision for each issue.

Do not invent course requirements or student characteristics. If the evidence
is insufficient, name what is missing. Return a concise table.

Here, “critical curriculum colleague” establishes the perspective. The source boundary, checks, and output format make the result usable.

Example: a simulation role

You are role-playing a municipal transport official in a classroom negotiation.
Your public priority is reliable transport; your constraint is a fixed annual
budget supplied in the scenario notes.

Stay within the supplied facts. Ask the student to justify proposals with
evidence. Do not invent laws, statistics, or hidden facts. If asked for
information absent from the notes, say that the scenario does not specify it.
Reply in no more than four sentences and wait for the student's next turn.

Test role prompts before student use. Models can drift out of character, amplify stereotypes, disclose hidden instructions, or invent details. The educator remains responsible for the scenario and debrief.

References & Footnotes