Running head: CASE STUDY #2 1

Case Study #2

Hector Solis-Ortiz

Loyola University Chicago

January 27, 2015

CASE STUDY #2 2

Introduction

The beginning to any college course starts and ends with the syllabus. It is

through this avenue that students get a sense of what the course will consist of and what

they should expect to take away once they have completed their time in the classroom.

The hope is that syllabus is successful and is able to create significant learning

experiences for all students. In order to understand the full scope of what goes into a

syllabus and it is beneficial to look at existing syllabi to see what the common trends are

and where they differ. I wanted to take a look at syllabi that focused around theatrical

arts in higher education to delve deeper in what should be integrated when assembling a

successful acting syllabus.

Descriptive Analysis

Purse-Wiedenhoeft’s (2014) syllabus her Fundamentals of Acting course at the

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh was very straightforward. This syllabus clearly laid

out a set of course goals and objectives as to what students could hope to learn from their

time in the classroom. Purse-Wiednehoeft (2014) mentions a set of five course objectives

that delve deeper into understanding the acting process through practice and theory based

approaches. The instructor believes that successful acting comes through working with

others and honing on those skills through ensemble work, but makes it a point to

highlight that students are expected to learn how to critically analyze the art form of

acting through both written and verbal expression. In the syllabus it is stressed that these

objectives cannot be done without “developing trust in other ensemble members during

activities, receiving and accepting feedback and taking risks through trial and error”

(Purse-Wiednehoeft, 2014). I saw this objective as a great way to incorporate student

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interaction and a way to let them know that the only way to get better at the course is to

practice and explore with fellow classmates.

The syllabus has three set course goals: to gain knowledge, hone theatrical skills

and foster creativity (Purse-Wiedenhoeft, 2014). The knowledge goal speaks to how a

student is able to grasp the intricacies of the acting process and applying that into

practice. The skills piece is pertinent in developing “physical and vocals skills...on how

to interpret a character through analysis of the structure of the text and the given

circumstance of the play” (Purse-Widenhoeft, 2014). The final goal is to allow students

to be creative in making choices that inform the craft and working with others in an

ensemble. All of these goals are implemented through a series of assignments that span

from play analysis papers in which students are required to attend productions put on by

the theater department and apply acting theory in their analysis. The other assignments

include performing a monologue and working in group scenes with fellow classmates.

Diaz-Cruz’s (n.d.) syllabus she created for her Acting 1 class at University of San

Diego was vastly different and lacked in detail. The course goals and objectives were

lumped into in one brief paragraph she stated, “students will gain basic skills in acting,

analyzing, improvisation, visualization, breathing and relaxation...recognizing the

dynamic field of theater is a useful tool for communicating in any arena” (Diaz-Cruz,

n.d.). There are a lot of broad terms that are expressed, but throughout the syllabus it is

not really explained in full detail what these basic skills look like or how they will be

achieved.

The instructor made a point to highlight that acting can serve as a great asset for

communicating in a student’s particular field of study no matter what that might be. The

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class has a large emphasis on written understanding of the course while incorporating in-

class text versus acting throughout the term. Students will need to complete a series of

three play reviews, five reading quizzes, and a final reflection paper. Though there is a

large emphasis on comprehending the material through written evaluation students have

to perform a monologue, a two-person & three-person scene, and lip-sync their favorite

song (Diaz-Cruz, n.d.). When it comes to calculating the grades there are higher marks

allotted for the writing assignments rather than the actual performances.

Al-Shamma’s (n.d) syllabus he constructed for his Fundamentals of Acting course

at Texas A&M was very descriptive in his approach on how to facilitate the class. This

course only has four learning outcomes that read more as task list of what is going to be

covered, but are not student centered. These outcomes include: understanding the

Stanislavski method of acting, working with other individuals within structured scene

work, being able to accept constructive feedback, and be able to conduct a personal vocal

and physical warm-up to prepare for scenes (Al-Shamm, n.d.). These learning outcomes

are supposed to inform the assignments that include: writing in an acting journal, writing

two play reviews, students have to prepare two monologues, present a character analysis

based off another classmate, and lip sync a song. This syllabus does not require students

to read from a text rather most of the interaction comes from playing with one another

and listening to stories to gain a firm grasp as to how to interpret emotion in each

assignment. Though there are a few structured writing assignments the rest are meant to

serve as reflective practices in order to establish a sense of self as an actor and as a

person. This syllabus was rich in description into catching a glimpse as to what the

actual class would look like unlike the next syllabus.

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Gero’s (n.d.) syllabus for his Acting 1: Presence in the moment class at George

Mason University provides little objectives for the class content. The course objectives

were to have the students be familiar with acting theories while providing a space for

group activities in which they will improve their recall to learning and performing lines

for theatrical scene work. There is language in the syllabus stating “basic requirements

for actors” and it lists a set of ten requirements, but nowhere in the syllabus does it

describe a student even though this course is intended as a general education requirement

for all students not just theater majors (Gero, n.d.). This syllabus is light in course

objectives or providing tangible ways in which students gain these skills. Students will

need to write four theater reviews. At least one of these shows has to be based off a

departmental production and the other one has to be a professional production done

within the city of Washington. Students need to engage in eight acting in class exercises,

and students will need to prepare an audition monologue. This syllabus was very

straightforward, but lacked thought as to how students would learn or engage with the

classroom throughout the run of the course. .

Smith’s (n.d) syllabus for her Voice for the Actor 1 course at the University of

Maryland takes a philosophical approach to her course objectives. The hope of this

course is that students are able to find their internal voices as performers and delve into

character development throughout their time in the course through a series of acting

exercises. There is constant referencing to training and honing your voice, but in the

syllabus there is not a clear indication of what that means or what it entails and so it is a

bit confusing. The structure of the course is broken down into three main categories:

journal writing, personal monologues, and poetry. Students need to do some reflective

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practices in their journals three times a week and notice any physical/emotional attributes

they have for the day and start seeing themselves as characters. When it comes to the

other two categories there is little detail as to what those assignments look like and the

descriptions are vague. Students need to create a 60 minute monologue, but have no basis

as to how to go about in doing so. Other than that there are no concrete ideas of how a

student would engage in the classroom. From reading this syllabus it seems as though

most of the learning will happen within the classroom week by week and won’t follow

the structure of the syllabus.

Comparative Analysis

There has been a wide gamut of similarities and differences within all of the

syllabi on how these acting courses were constructed. The similarities within the syllabi

outweighed the differences in my opinion. Nilson (2010) mentions that learning

outcomes should be aspirational in nature and be student centered, “they are promises,

and you should make it clear that students have to to do their part to make this promise

come. So you might state that verbally in the syllabus” (p. 18). Across the the different

syllabi there was a lack of understanding of what learning outcomes should be or look

like. For example, the only syllabus that was detailed and provided tangible examples of

how to go about in fulfilling these outcomes was Purse-Weidnehoeft’s (2014) syllabus in

that she was able to list tangible ways that her course objectives would be measured and

evaluated through specific assignments. The other four syllabi were very much

convoluted in that the outcomes were so broad and non-specific that students would not

be able to firmly grasp what they are expected to get out of the course.

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Another similarity is the fact that the vocabulary that was used was vague. For

example, throughout all of the syllabi there is constant mention that students will gain

acting skills that will help inform scene work. These skills are not specified in the

syllabus and it seems as though this is something that would be developed within the

classroom, but lacks detail in the written syllabus.

There are stark differences in how each class is structured through actual

assessment assignments. Fink (2013) states, “teachers whose only feedback and

assessment procedures are, for example, two midterms and a final exemplify the

perspective of audit-ive assessment...primary purpose of educative assessment is to help

students learn” (p. 93). Even though all of these courses are acting based some of these

instructors have more of an emphasis on written reflection to assess understanding of

acting theory by attending a departmental theatrical productions. Every class does have

performance based assessment that ranges from performing monologues to two person

scenes, but out of the five syllabi Al-Shamma’s (n.d) syllabus had a higher emphasis on

performance and reflection. This was a great example of how to apply an educative

assessment in that this approach allows students to gain a deeper understanding of how

this class can help in their public speaking skills in any avenue. That being said there

were courses that were focused on an “audit-ive” approach in that the instructors just

want to test their knowledge of the art.

Conclusion

Throughout this exercise I have come to realize that constructing a course

syllabus is an intricate art form. As an instructor you have to make sure that one’s own

learning outcomes are in fact in line with the assignments that are put into place. Fink

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(2013) mentions that in order to have a successful course experience one has to

implement learning activities in which one gives information of the course while

providing experiences in which students connect the subject to their life and allow space

for reflection. I found this idea to be quite captivating and to help inform how to go

about in constructing a syllabus and a great way to implement a holistic view of learning.

In reality, not every course is going to be transformational for every student

because when constructing a syllabus for a large group of students it can be difficult to

cater to everyone’s personal needs, but as an instructor you do have the power to

influence culture in the course. Wagner (2012) mentions that in order to produce

innovation in a classroom there has to be three set requirements present which include:

expertise, creative thinking skills and motivation. Not every student will exceed in this

course, but as instructor you can shape their experience to be innovative and do well by

understanding a student’s background and expanding on those experiences. Also, being

mindful of how one can take the learning outcomes and develop assessment tools that

will stimulate and motivate students to care about the subject matter is important and

valuable reminder.

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References

Al-Shamma, J. (n.d.). THE 213-Fundamentals of Acting. Retrieved from

http://www.tamuc.edu/academics/cvsyllabi/syllabi/201280/81587.pdf

Diaz-Cruz, E. (n.d.). Evelyn Diaz Cruz - Syllabus Acting I. Retrieved from

http://home.sandiego.edu/~diazcruz/acting-1.html

Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to

designing college courses (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Gero, E. (n.d.). Acting 1: Presence In The Moment. Retrieved from

http://theater.gmu.edu/faculty/syllabi/fall_2014/THR_210_001_GERO.pdf

Nilson, L. B. (2010). Teaching at its best: A research-based resource for college

instructors. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Purse-Wiedenhoeft, J. (2014, February 4). Thr 205 Fundamentals of Acting — Theatre.

Retrieved from http://www.uwosh.edu/theatre/syllabi/thr-205-fundamentals-of

acting

Smith, A. (n.d.). THET 310: Voice for the Actor 1. Retrieved from

http://tdps.umd.edu/sites/default/files/files/Syllabus/2013%20%202014/THET310

%20-%20Smith.pdf

Wagner, T., & Compton, R. A. (2012). Creating innovators: The making of young people

who will change the world. New York: Scribner.