Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2004 - 16

Advantages
The responses to these arguments are equally intriguing. One fundamental question we present to our students is "Do you want to enter a graduate program or start a career at a theatre that does not embrace or have
access to current and emerging technologies?" If their undergraduate
experience has been designed to prepare the student for entrance into a
technological world, it is expected that their graduate experience should
build on that foundation.
Although it is true that "what you see is not necessarily what you
get," most systems now can display documents, images, and videos at an
acceptable level of quality. If the designs and other materials were originally created in a digital environment, then they may actually lose something when printed on paper. Moreover, designers can now capture
ephemeral moments of a theatrical performance that were impossible to
document in a traditional paper portfolio.
"...despite a few challenges, the benefits of having a digital portfolio are strikingly clear. Digital portfolios not only allow designers to feature more of their work in less space, they are easier to transport, less
expensive to produce, and simply a must for any up-and-coming designer in digital media." (McKenna 2000, 13)
In as much as students are learning new ways to present their personal development, the faculty must address a different approach to assessment. Those of us who teach the technology to students have a
tendency to focus on how well the student has mastered digital skills.
Faculty members from the performance studies program are intrigued
with the entertainment value of a well prepared digital portfolio. Both of
these considerations can detract from an honest evaluation of the content. One way to desensitize the reviewer to the presentational aspects is
for them to gain familiarity with the medium.
Theatre faculties usually work very closely with students involved in
staging productions on campus outside of the traditional classroom environment. "Teaching by example" makes a strong impression on our students.
Consequently, a faculty member who is creating his or her own portfolio
needs to address the same issues the student is facing. They want to present
their work in the clearest, most informative manner. Questions about composition, simplicity, and graphic impact are grappled within the faculty

portfolio and the solutions are ultimately communicated to the students
in the classroom. In figures 9 and 10 from a faculty portfolio, the focus is
not on the background, the font, or the display but on the size of the images. Titles and text are not so much to direct the viewer where to look
but more to impart clarification of what the reviewer is supposed to see.
It is incumbent upon us to develop and continually refine our professional showcase portfolios in a digital format, even in this transitional
period of incorporating digital technologies. Simply put, we must practice what we preach (and teach.)

Current Status of Digital Portfolio Development
Students enrolled in design/production classes continue to generate development portfolios documenting their mastery of new skills with a
growing collection of both classroom and realized production projects.
By the end of the fall 2002 term, all of the digital portfolio components
were incorporated into all of the design/production classes. The faculty
agree that dedicating one week out of the term for the students to update
and refine their portfolios on an ongoing basis is time well spent.
The first class of sophomore review candidates presenting digital
assessment portfolios documenting projects from the four lower-division
design/production classes came before the theatre faculty in the spring
of 2003. These digital portfolios were well organized and included a
complete composite of their first two years as theatre majors. The poise
with which the students were able to lead the faculty through their portfolios provided additional evidence of the value of this technology. Although our colleagues from the performance faculty have not yet
incorporated digital portfolio components into their beginning acting
and directing classes, students are developing digital archives of their
acting and directing experiences on their own. Most of our faculty members recognize the potential these technologies hold for better documenting a student's progress in these areas, especially by means of
digital video. Each new year of assessing digital portfolios demands that
the faculty move beyond the display characteristics offered by the digital presentations and focus their assessment on the quality of the students' progress.

Faculty Showcase Portfolio -
Costume Design/Execution

Faculty Showcase Portfolio -
Costume Designs
TD & T

S P R I N G

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 2004