iLearn Mini-Conference
Podcast Lab Presentation Outline
1. The Class: Theatre 103
a. Dramatic Analysis for incoming freshman theatre majors
i. Read 11 plays from Greeks to Restoration England
ii. Apply principles of text analysis via Aristotle’s Poetics
iii. First of two-part intro course (year-long)
b. Major requirement / Foundational tenets
i. Much of what they’ll do in any area of the theatre – acting, directing,
design, etc. – begins with text analysis, understanding the intention and
structure of a play
c. Lecture / Discussion
i. Historical Background of a play (brief)
ii. More important: Methodology of analysis (i.e. Different kinds of plot
structure, how do perform a character analysis, etc.)
iii. Common approach: pose a problem / question to students (do a character
analysis of an assigned character from Midsummer night’s dream), have
them work in groups and present their results
d. 110-150 students in AC114
2. The Problems, er, Challenges
a. 110-150 students…
i. Huge difficulty of interpersonal interaction
ii. Ability to take questions, respond to inquiries and ideas, track and monitor
comprehension on the fly
iii. Numbers and time problem: Too many kids, not enough time
b. …who are freshmen…
i. And therefore need even more guidance than normal
c. …in AC 114…
i. Chairs don’t move, making group work a huge challenge
d. …who would maybe sometimes rather be acting or painting scenery or etc.
i. Making OLD OLD plays engaging and relevant
ii. Making the sometimes intellectual act of dramatic analysis fun / engaging
/ compelling / etc.
3. The Existing Remedies
a. In-Class Group Discussion
b. Google Drive Documents
i. Collaborative authorship of group discussion projects
ii. I can watch the doc being written (iPad) and give feedback
c. iClicker:
i. Immediate student engagement and feedback (quizzes and opinion polls)
ii. STILL SOMETHING WAS MISSING
4. iLearn and the New Idea
a. iLearn Summer Faculty Fellowship
b. Collaboration with Jen Bott and Rich Edwards
c. Podcasting
i. Method to deliver lecture material outside of class
ii. Thus freeing up more in-class time for discussion / activities / feedback /
interaction
iii. Help swing the numbers / time problem in my favor
iv. BUT: HOW TO MAKE THIS INTERACTIVE AND ENGAGING?
d. Podcast Lab
i. Based on NPR’s Radio Lab – something fun, engaging, and more than just
me talking into a mic
e. Creative Hook
i. Self-aware radio plays written by me and performed by me and two
former students
f. Student / Faculty discussion
i. Followed by structured but unscripted discussion of important class
concepts
5. Part 1: The Creative Hook
a. Brief (3-10 minute segments)
b. Illustrating the Lecture Concept
i. Talking about tight, action-driven plot structure? Write a tight, action
driven plot
ii. And maybe make it in the style of the play we’re reading this week
c. Storytelling / Artistic Content
i. Constructing a plot
ii. Interesting dialogue / action
iii. With fun / well-engineered sound effects
d. Meta-theatrical
i. We’re making theatre about theatre! Students love irony.
ii. And it’s very much self-aware and ridiculous
1. Production value is good
2. Writing is…mixed. Acting is…mixed.
e. Hannah and Tyler’s Greek Tragedy
i. In the style of the plays we were studying
ii. Containing all the elements of dramatic structure
iii. Done with fun / slick production values but self-aware writing and acting
iv. CLIP: Starting at 10:30
f. And other examples
i. Going back in time and talking to Aristotle
ii. Hannah and Tyler’s Shakespearean Tragedy (more characters, more
plotlines)
iii. Hannah and Tyler’s Morality Play (so bad I killed it in the middle)
iv. Studio interviews with previous characters from plays (character analysis)
6. Part 2: The Discussion
a. Structured to hit major teaching points
i. So after the Greek Tragedy we went back and identified major plot points,
analyzed the structure, and hit my major lecture notes points
b. Extensive, free-wheeling
i. A genuine discussion
1. Unscripted
2. – let the students be the students, ask both leading and – more
importantly – open-ended questions
3. Opportunity to affirm / embrace new ideas
4. Also opportunity to correct slightly inaccurate ideas
5. You can edit it all in post-production, too
c. Modeling student-teacher interaction /
i. discussion that the classroom setup doesn’t give time for
ii. Valuing student feedback
iii. Presenting and idea model of student behavior (PICK SMART KIDS)
d. CLIP: Plot Discussion
7. Creation and Delivery
a. Studio Time + Digital Core Support
i. SUMMER – And pretty extensive
b. Quizzes on Each Podcast
c. Blackboard Adaptive Release: Get an 80% or better or you don’t get the next
podcast
d. Begin subsequent class with questions / Clarifications (taking up 5 minutes
instead of a whole class period
i. And then, hey, look at all this class time for activities
ii. They can DO rather than just observe
e. Old lecture PPTs made available
8. Results
a. In-class observation: more time, more engagement
b. Anecdotal evidence
i. Buzz around the department, H and T as celebrities
c. Grades! .5% increase in overall course grades and on midterm and final exams
(so not statistically significant, but something, and not a drop)
d. Anonymous student surveys
i. Both in-class and at the end of the semester
9. How much of each podcast did you actually listen to?
a. Conclusion: THEY LISTENED!
b. Note: this is a bit of a weed-out class. The top two percentages = what we
usually retain throughout the first year of the major
10. On what device did you listen?
a. PORTABILITY
11. Where did you listen
a. Both traditional and portable / flexible: In this always-on educational culture
we’ve given them something they can take with them
12. Overall, entertaining and engaging
a. Good positive response – they enjoyed and they engaged
13. Overall, effective method of delivering information, supported course learning objectives,
reasonable use of study time
a. These are equal to / in some cases higher than “entertaining / engaging” – so
LEARNING was important
14. Creative Hook segment
a. Entertaining, but MADE MATERIAL EASIER TO UNDERSTAND
15. Discussion Segments
a. Same results: Entertainment and LEARNING
16. Conclusions:
a. Taking digital lecture beyond the talking head
i. Digital content delivery is not if but when
ii. And it’s helpful: more class time for discussion / activity
iii. So let’s embrace it and find a fun thing to do
b. Entertainment / Modeling Creative Outcomes
c. Engagement / Modeling Desired Behavior
17. Best Practices
a. Production Value
i. Script / plan
ii. Recording
iii. Post-Production Support
1. Cutting, SFX, etc.
b. Time Commitment
i. Recording
ii. Post-Production
iii. Deployment / Quizzes
c. Re-usability
i. Once you’ve done it, you can use it again and again, to a certain point
ii. So keep that in mind: not too many hyper specific pop-culture references
(Spiderman the movie, yes. Current internet meme, maybe no)
d. Model / Reflect the Subject Matter
i. Theatre about theatre was a big breakthrough. Apply to your discipline
e. Creativity / Engagement
i. The two-part structure: Creative Hook + Discussion
f. Student Voice(s)
i. Allow the students to be collaborators, not just students
ii. (So pick really good students)