Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1999 - 61

Assessment Techniques catalogs dozens of them.
lsing a classroom assessment technique is like being
able to make corrections as a bowling ball approaches the
pins. rather than Iraiting until it has trareled the entire lane
and struck them. A common C\T is the minute paper. At the
end of a class session the instructor asks each student to IITite
for about a minute abollt what seemed to be the most important point learned that day, and Irhat still seems unclear. Br
quickly reviCll'ing student comments (about a minute per student) the instructor can see if what he or she thought Iras getting taught really I\'aS, and can act on that information before
mOl'ing to nell' topics.
Because student learning is so dependent on prior
knowledge (Angelo & Cross. p. 117), the use of a background
knowledge probe focusing on prerequisite skills at the beginning of a course is a CAT that can help target instruction. For
instance, Irhen students tell me that thel' can draft, it mal' not
mean what I think it does. If I take the time to diagnose their
knowledge of drafting, through a multiple choice e:-;all1 or diagnostic project, then I will know what Ire need to take time
for in the earll' Ireeks of a design course.
Are I'OU teaching problem solving in a stagecraft course?
Finding out if students can use \"Our instruction to make informed choices becomes apparent using a pro and con chart.
(see "Pros and Cons," p. 60) B\' coaching them through problem solVing decisions I'OU can readil\' hear and see whether or
not \"Our instructional materials and classroom activities have

helped them learn what I'OU think you're teaching.
BI' reflecting on informal snldent feedback. and bl' compal'
ing it lIith your instl1lctionalmaterials and teaching behaliors, a
picture emerges of hOlr your particular strengths come to bear on
teaching the subject. Whether used for seJI-improrement, or
documenting rour teaching for promotion and tenure, these
methods lead to a greater awareness of the self-that-teaches.

As Willimn Cerbin points out, the single most important clement of
a teaching portfolio mal' be the frmning statement. (Hutchings, p.
5.) Like the conceptual framework we often use to design, it
becomes the touchstoue by which Ire select what is included
in the portfolio, and what, good as it mar be, should be set
aside. For instance some mal' think of their classroom as a
laboratory in which one begins with goals for student learning,
adopts teaching practices to achieve the goals, and collects
evidence about the effects of the teaching practices.
Whether vou think of your classroom as a laboratorl', an
ongoing rehearsal, an improvisational performance, or a fourteen Ireek long dance, developing an analogy that represents
how I'OU teach can lead to insights about who vou are when
rou step into that classroom. Then, in much the same Iray that
we use conceptual frameworks for theatrical design, that insight can provide a basis for choosing the most effective
choices in our teaching.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1999