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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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Sequencing Assignments, Creating Evaluation Rubrics
By Holly Thuma, Theater Arts My background is in conservatory training where actors prepared fully memorized, performance level scenes for class, where students were graded not only on their skill but on their talent, where some were periodically culled and cut from the program, and the teacher was often a grand master wielding all the power. When I first came to Pitt, I was teaching Introduction to Performance, an elective course for nonmajors. It was an adjustment to say the least. I took a faculty development course offered by the School of Arts and Sciences and was provided with many new tools and, even more importantly, a new philosophy on teaching. I came to realize that, while students need to master a set of skills under my coaching, they also benefit tremendously from the opportunity to reflect on, analyze, and articulate the steps of their own creative process. When I began teaching Basic Acting and Acting in the 20th Century (which includes Chekhov, Pinter, and Shepard) I noticed I was spending all of my coaching time on the first “beat” or segment of the scene—we rarely got past the first eight to ten lines. Consequently, I began to experiment with breaking the scene down into separate assignments. The acting improved rapidly and, not surprisingly, everybody seemed to have more fun. Another breakthrough in my teaching occurred when, through discussion with members of my department, I realized I could provide a grading scale for each assignment and set about creating rubrics. Now, my students have a clear set of four assignments, including a Written Scene Analysis (as of this semester accepted only electronically), and they are evaluated on each segment, sometimes by each other in structured peer critique sessions. In higher-level courses, I have asked students to help create the rubrics. This has proved to be amazingly effective; it gives students the opportunity to develop critical thinking and gain greater ownership of their acting work. Currently, I am teaching Acting the Classics: Greeks to Shakespeare and I have to work hard not to be the grand master authoritarian teacher because there is just so much practice involved and because I want so much for my students to do well. I try to remember that hubris is a fatal flaw and, in fact, leads to off-stage death. In the midst of Greek tragedy, practice must be inspired, and the best teaching moments occur when my students learn from each other.
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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for Instructional Development & Distance Education |
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